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Designs on recruiting the best workers.


At the project kick-off meeting for the design of the new offices Ann Taylor Notable people named Ann Taylor include:
  • Ann Taylor (NPR newscaster), American radio personality
  • Ann Taylor (poet) (1782-1866), poet and children's writer
  • Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton (born 1947), UK Labour Party politician
 will be relocating to at 7 Times Square, the client issued a mandate to the HOK interiors team: "We want our headquarters to be the facility of choice for the top talent in the fashion retail business. This is to be a 'creative space for creative people.'"

Encouraged by this articulated goal and challenged to translate it into a space design that would appeal to new employees and existing staff, HOK set about creating work areas and ancillary facilities that would support the administrative, merchandising and creative functions to occupy 12 floors in the prestigious new tower.

Staff will be mostly housed in universal-sized workstations in a plan that offers maximum exposure to natural light and generous work surfaces and support spaces for design, merchandising and marketing support functions.

To provide a non-distracting environment in which staff can work with an array of colorful clothing and accessories that are studied and arranged for future displays in Ann Taylor stores and Ann Taylor Loft retail locations, HOK has specified an overall neutral color palette Also called a "color lookup table," "lookup table," "index map," "color table" or "color map," it is a commonly used method for saving file space when creating 8-bit color images. . When complete, the new facility is expected to place Ann Taylor squarely square·ly  
adv.
1. Mathematics At right angles: sawed the beam squarely.

2. In a square shape.

3.
 in the vanguard Vanguard

Any of three unmanned U.S. experimental satellites. Vanguard I (1958), the second U.S. satellite placed in orbit around Earth (after Explorer 1), was a tiny 3.25-lb (1.47-kg) sphere with two radio transmitters.
 of retail companies that are perceived as great places to work.

A few blocks North and East of the future Ann Taylor location is the headquarters of Time Inc., where a full-scale renovation of the 45 year old Time Life building is well underway.

There, a floor-by-floor "rolling refurbishment re·fur·bish  
tr.v. re·fur·bished, re·fur·bish·ing, re·fur·bish·es
To make clean, bright, or fresh again; renovate.



re·fur
" has resulted in a new image for the giant publishing house, offering employees the most advanced workplace standards.

Donald A. Hickey, Time Inc.'s Vice President of Real Estate & Facilities Capital Projects, states, "One of our primary Time & Life Building renovation program goals was to create a high quality work environment that the vast majority of our employees and prospective employees would find visually appealing in addition to meeting their functional and ergonomic ergonomic - Concerning ergonomics or exhibitting good ergonimics.  needs. The achievement of this program goal is clearly a value added Value Added

The enhancement a company gives its product or service before offering the product to customers.

Notes:
This can either increase the products price or value.
 component for the recruitment and retention of Time Inc. employees overall."

HOK's design called for the gut renovation of existing floors, literally taking them down to raw concrete. The largely open plan environment is enhanced for staff through leaving the ceiling planes open to the underside of the slab. Besides providing the advantage of maximum height, this creates a strong architectural shell that holds up well to the crisp, clean workstations. The use of glass in office fronts permits the penetration of natural light, as does the ribbed rib  
n.
1. Anatomy
a. One of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum.

b. A similar bone in most vertebrates.

2.
 curve glass walls of interior conference rooms.

Appropriate for a magazine, HOK has provided a substantial amount of pin-up surfaces for the creative staff. And a 5th floor cafe is a welcome change of environment for light meals. Perhaps most memorable as an employee "culture" amenity a·men·i·ty  
n. pl. a·men·i·ties
1. The quality of being pleasant or attractive; agreeableness.

2. Something that contributes to physical or material comfort.

3.
 is the branding program that establishes and reinforces the identity of each magazine on its respective floor. While the overall plan and organization of fixed elements is consistent from floor to floor, in each publication's public space, a memorable art and photography program, that changes from issue to issue of the magazine, provides staff with a strong graphic reminder of their publication's brand.

Jennifer Busch, Editor-in-Chief of Contract, the respected publication that features notable corporate interiors puts the "design for recruitment/retention" concept in perspective. "This is more than a trend," she says. "We're hearing so much from designers and their clients that a well-designed office and the amenities that go with it can make an important difference in how workers perceive a perspective employer.

"As the hierarchies in corporate America are increasingly flattened flat·ten  
v. flat·tened, flat·ten·ing, flat·tens

v.tr.
1. To make flat or flatter.

2. To knock down; lay low: The boxer was flattened with one punch.
 and private space is shrinking, amenities are what count, whether lounge areas, touchdown spaces or coffee bars. And it's not just about rich materials.

"What keeps employees alert and interested are edgy, exciting spaces that project corporate energy."

BY JULIETTE LAM, SENIOR PRINCIPAL, HOK NEW YORK New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
 
COPYRIGHT 2005 Hagedorn Publication
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Copyright 2005, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Title Annotation:Special report: interiors
Author:Lam, Juliette
Publication:Real Estate Weekly
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Mar 16, 2005
Words:650
Previous Article:Making your space work is a real talking point.(Special report: interiors)
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