Assured Guaranty is a Bermuda-based provider of financial guaranty insurance, with a primary U.S. presence in New York City. A repeat client, the insurance company came to us seeking to consolidate their vast, seven-floor office into a more cohesive space to save on space and suit their organizational needs. We relocated them into two full floors at 1633 Broadway, designing a traditional office layout incorporating some progressive elements.

Town hall meetings are an important part of the company’s workplace culture, so the client needed a space to accommodate their staff. A café on the 24th floor offers flexible seating arrangements and is supported by surrounding large screens, projection, and speakers. Telescoping glass sliding doors provide full opening for ease of overflow into adjacent circulation spaces and reception area. The prominent reception area includes an interconnecting staircase which unites the two floors, and gallery benches that have been repurposed from their former live-edge wood boardroom table, help to add character in the space.

Perimeter offices are glass-fronted to exude the company’s culture of transparency and connectedness. All employee workstations are the same size, and the workspace is punctuated with pantries and break rooms. To assist with wayfinding, the client enlivened the space with whimsical, colorful meeting rooms themed after Jim Henson’s The Muppets. Similarly, Assured Guaranty incorporated a collection of inherited artwork from their previous location to complement the new, clean space. They also auctioned some of their valuable pieces to purchase commissioned contemporary paintings and sculptures from local NY artists.