Bustle Offices – New York City
Corgan was engaged by online women’s magazine Bustle, to design their new offices located in New York City, New York.
Bustle, a new force in the online media world of technology with an insatiable curiosity about the world and a cleverness for delivering news in a format that is always getting better, quicker, and more engaging, tapped Corgan to design a new cohesive space to accommodate their growth and create a memorable experience authentic to their culture and brand.
Bustle’s previous space included two noncontiguous floors, which were disconnected in both their location and design—leaving an opportunity for a stronger brand identity within their office environment. The collaborative visioning process gave way to the guiding “speed of light” inspiration for the project. As an online media company, Bustle gravitated towards elements that evoked a feeling of speed and light—a theme reflected throughout the space. An experiential design combines stimulating and subtle features throughout to tell an intentional story in a way that transcends any singular touchpoint and immerses audiences in Bustle’s fast and constantly changing world. For instance, a welcome zone designed as an infinity room with mirrors on all sides replaces the traditional reception desk. A grid of color changing lights throughout these zones adds additional movement and drama to the space as one walks through the beams of colored lights while a large Bustle logo reflects infinitely across each wall. Once inside, colored glass doors filter natural light and create another play with lights and colors. In the pantry, a large wall features a 2D representation of the lights in the welcome zone in long exposure by Paul Smith for Maharam.
With the goal of attracting top creative talent, Bustle wanted a modern newsroom with digital and emerging platforms for young and established journalists to explore new mediums and their craft. The new office design includes a photo studio with attached green room, a podcast recording studio and a Facebook Live room. Responding to the need for flexible workstyles, impromptu gatherings and collaboration, access to technological amenities is incorporated throughout including the pantry, which is integrated with AV/IT so staff can “plug and play” from anywhere.
The office is comprised of approximately 115 open benching workstations per floor, 8-10 private offices per floor, one large convertible boardroom, smaller meeting rooms, huddle spaces, collaboration zones, phone booths and two multifunctional pantries. Each space offers a different environment giving staff variety and control of where and how they work. The large conference rooms, pantry areas and furniture are flexible and multifunctional for their current and anticipated needs. All the intermittent soft seating provided for collaboration, for example, can be removed and replaced with workstations. The open pantry’s various seating configurations offers a space for town hall meetings and stadium seating options for smaller groups and individual work.
The final design solution unifies the previously disjointed space with a cohesive look and feel, adapts to the team’s various workstyles and growth and offers the increased digitalization needed of a modern newsroom—ultimately making for a creative statement that better shares Bustle’s core values and identity.
Architect: Corgan
Contractor: CJS Builders
Photography: Kurt Griesbach and courtesy of Corgan
