Header photo: Courtesy of Zeiss, Photo Credit Andy Ryan Photographer
Serving as the North American East Coast headquarters for 170-year-old German optics-manufacturing firm Zeiss (which employs more than 31,000 people worldwide), this brand-new 26,000 sq. ft. space at One North Broadway in Downtown White Plains was designed for maximum interaction. (Local firm Scully Construction was responsible for the build-out.)
“The new location utilizes an open-office concept in order to foster close collaboration and encourage flexible working with a mix of dedicated and shared workstations and creative work environments,” explains Christian Martin, head of Shared Services North America for Zeiss.
Conference rooms are plentiful in the office, allowing ample opportunities for collaboration. A room-booking tablet interface outside each conference room makes it easy to view the day’s schedule of meetings.
Killer downtown views can be seen throughout the space. Lots of comfy seating, too.
A central gathering place is always important for a modern office. This open kitchen area flows seamlessly into the rest of the office and provides plenty of seating where employees can grab a bite and chat.
A live-feed company dashboard in the lobby mirrors one in the firm’s German HQ, in Oberkochen. It can show current-news heat maps; key company stats, like sales and performance metrics; and social media feeds, as well as corporate updates and fun things, like employee birthdays. It’s also used for displaying digital content during Zeiss events. The company feels that “technology is not a backdrop, but rather… [something] interwoven into the fabric of the work we do each day,” notes Christian Martin of Zeiss.
The office’s central, convenient proximity to Downtown White Plains helps Zeiss with employee attraction and retention. Roughly 150 employees work at the White Plains office, in three different business groups: Carl Zeiss Microscopy (microscopes), Zeiss Consumer Products (binoculars, camera lenses, scopes, etc.), and Carl Zeiss Inc., which oversees shared services (HR, legal, accounting, etc.) for North America.
Need a quiet space to get some work done? No problem, with these futuristic-looking pods from Framery Acoustics. Employees refer to these micro workspaces as “phone booths.”
