Argo Group is a Bermuda-based international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market. TPG has worked with the company on a number of projects over the years, including their Houston and London offices and existing NYC office located at 610 Broadway. With an expiring lease approaching, Argo engaged our firm for the relocation and expansion of their NYC office. The client wanted more collaborative space to accommodate their young and growing workforce and selected a former warehouse in the Meatpacking District located at 413 14th Street to house their new office.

The client was drawn to the building’s historic details—exposed brick, columns, wood beams, large windows, and pitched ceilings. TPG incorporated as much of the building’s natural bones into the design and used a mix of rustic, raw materials with a refined, modern look. To help preserve the building’s charm, the concrete floors needed to be polished, and exposed brick needed to be acid-washed. The full build-out of the vacant warehouse required marrying three separate buildings into one cohesive floorplate, where Argo would take over the 3rd, 4th and newly built 5th-floor penthouse.

The 3rd floor’s reception area leads to a large open café filled with booths and a reclaimed wood-plank platform, a space that will help to create buzz in the office and double as a town hall area. The office will house the company’s digital team and will feature large collaboration spaces, moveable workstations, as well as a boulevard wall of conference rooms. Phone-booth rooms with custom graphics, made by TPG’s Branding team, will accommodate more private meetings. The new office also features an outdoor terrace for events and working alfresco, designed with plants to mimic the neighboring High Line.