ASCAP, The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization that licenses songs and scores to protect its members’ musical copyrights. The professional organization is a leader in performance royalties, advocacy, and service for music creators, ensuring musicians and composers are compensated accordingly for their music. In 2015, ASCAP engaged TPG Architecture for full architectural services for the relocation of their New York City office.

Their existing office, located at 1900 Broadway, had been quite dated and maze-like to navigate. TPG’s Programming and Strategy teams conducted pre-lease services such as building analyses and test fits with regard to proper seat fit and adjacencies for approximately 250 employees. After multiple test fit scenarios, the Client ultimately selected 4 floors at 250 West 57th Street as their new home. After an extensive two-year pre-design process, TPG helped to design a much more open, transparent, and welcoming space for ASCAP.

The new design utilizes mostly open seating with minimal private office space and a 1:1 collaborative seat ratio. Since the building has low ceilings, they were intentionally left exposed to further open the space. ASCAP’s new office features multiple conference and huddle rooms, a public-facing board room, and phone rooms for privacy. Specialty areas include a recording studio for visiting musicians, an outdoor terrace, and an IT help desk genius bar. A collaborative café with a media wall doubles as an area for dining, town-halls, and performance space. A significant design feature is the white, agglomerate stone staircase that connects the office’s three consecutive floors.