LA: CBRE's New Digs
Repping creative types to find open, collaborative offices has inspired CBRE: Last month, 200 of its Los Angeles employees, plus some top national execs, moved into 48k SF of cutting-edge space at 400 S Hope downtown, featuring the latest gadgets and cultural philosophy. Office chief Andy Ratner and colleague Nancy Wilhite welcomed us to the lobby, which instead of putting you in the traditional isolation of a waiting room, ushers you straight into the middle of the work space.
That's not the command console of a spaceship, but one of many glassed conference rooms. After 10 years across the street in the KPMG building, they started planning with Gensler a year ago and involved at least 40% of their staff in a "change management" process with eight committees on topics like wellness, furniture, tech, and art. The office is intended as a model for its 400 offices worldwide. They searched everywhere for ideas and found the best ones in Amsterdam and elsewhere in Europe and Asia.
People are nimble and open in the office. That's Andy's station--a MacBook Air, second spot on the left. Lockers are provided so you're not chained to your desk. They have what they call a "free address" system and different "neighborhoods" to choose from.
A desk to work on while you walk the treadmill. They're adding more to arrange in a conversation group for meetings. (Will that make meetings last shorter, or longer?)
