In June this year, Cengage, a global educational technology company, moved into its brand-new space at 200 Pier Four Blvd. in the Seaport District. Cengage shares the space with Boston Consulting Group.
The office stretches across five floors and 80,000 sq. ft., and features a rooftop deck with views of the Boston harbor. Cengage’s 600 employees have the opportunity to do work in front of a garden wall while watching planes depart from Logan Airport. The new office was designed by Gensler Architects NY.
In traditional office settings, the best views go to employees based on seniority. Cengage, however, is different. Even with an open floor plan and floor to ceiling glass windows throughout, none of the workstations have views of the Boston Harbor. According to Gary Fortier, EVP and Chief People Officer at Cengage, this was intentional.
“What differentiates this space I think is the intentionality of how we’ve used the views,” Fortier said. “So I love that the best views are common. It’s not ‘well let’s have senior people in an office [on the water] and have everyone else look at something else.’ It is let’s have the kitchens on the water... Any common amenities are in the central core, so that everybody sees the views. And frankly, the best views are not the offices, the offices are the worst views, which was intentional.”
Every employee has a sit/stand desk within the open floor plan. During the move, Cengage increased its number of meeting spaces from 45 to 90. There are smaller “huddle spaces,” high-top tables near the kitchens, large conference rooms, individual and team soundproof booths, and even stadium seating between the third and fourth floor. But that’s just inside — employees also have the option to work on the lower side patio or on the rooftop deck.
The reason for the various workspaces is to inspire “forced collisions.” The combination of variety in offices and amenities “creates lots of opportunities for serendipitous conversations.” These serendipitous conversations may not be game-changing for the company, but they do encourage collaboration across departments, which can bring employees together.
Cengage is also creating an eco-friendly space, and its office is LEED-certified. To obtain a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, projects have to gain points across categories like water efficiency and indoor environmental quality.
Walking around the office, one notices the absence of trash cans by individual desks. There are a limited number of trash and recycling stations throughout the office. This allows employees to be intentional of how much waste they are creating and making sure their trash and recycle is disposed of appropriately.
There are also a limited number of printing stations, so employees can decrease paper use. The open floor plan helps with HVAC because they don’t need as many units to help modulate airflow. There are no plastic cups or utensils in the office; there is a dishwasher, so ceramic mugs and silverware can be washed and used again.
“We have a team that we talked to throughout the build-out, we refer to them as the Green Team, and we talked to them about recyclables and how we can be more environmentally conscious with the space we occupy. And the reality is, the best thing you can do to have a smaller imprint is to use the space efficiently,” says Fortier.
With the brand new eco-friendly office, full of a variety of workplaces and a rooftop deck, it’s no wonder why Cengage was a 2019 Coolest Companies winner.
