Architecture firm Dyer Brown has renewed Sappi North America’s Boston, Massachusetts, headquarters by using environmentally friendly finishes, materials, and fixtures to meet sustainability and employee health goals.
Since Dyer Brown is in a midst of an overhaul itself, it selected manufacturers and product lines which it had pre-vetted. “Our team has been leading a wide-ranging effort to completely overhaul our materials library, eliminating any products containing known human health hazards and introducing new and greener, healthier alternatives,” said Dyer Brown’s sustainable design lead, Laurel Christensen, AIA, WELL AP.
With Dyer Brown project manager Schuyler Pratt coordinating efforts, the design team pursued cost-effective and low-waste strategies, which also maximized the visual impact on visiting clients. At the entrance, a waiting room flanked with living moss walls highlights the client’s mission and culture to staff and visitors, while less evident design elements streamline workflow and reduce material and energy needs. Focused on areas near the entry and reception zone, including meeting rooms, an employee pantry and break area, Dyer Brown introduced folding and retractable walls to subdivide rooms into collaboration spaces.
Sappi is a multinational known for innovations in raw and processed wood fiber, with an emphasis on sustainability through reliance on renewable resources. Dyer Brown had been briefed about the need for an esthetic overhaul of Sappi’s headquarters, which was well-aligned with its corporate culture, mission, and brand image.
The new headquarters span over a smaller footprint of 1,672 m2 (18,000 sf), in response to Sappi’s wishes for a slimmer and consolidated workspace spread over a highly functional and flexible layout.
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