October 18, 2016 by CallisonRTKL

Challenging Tradition: The Evolution of Law Office Design

This October, workplace interior designers Donell Ellis, Callie Reid and Stefana Scinta attended Work Design Magazine’s “The Evolution of Law Office Design” panel discussion. They returned to the office with new ideas about how to break barriers and challenge traditional hierarchies in law offices.

Here’s what they learned about the design for the offices of Nixon Peabody:

Donell Ellis on Relationships

Relationships are the foundation of any successful business partnership, and this is especially true about the relationship between a client and a designer. When tasked with redesigning the law offices of Nixon Peabody, Design Director Ken Wilson of Perkins + Will knew the first step was cultivating a strong relationship with his client. He and Jeff Lesk, one of the firm’s managing partners, were already friends, but through bike meetings, they were able to kick off the project, discuss and create a shared vision. But the collaboration didn’t stop there. Wilson decided that in order to create the best design for Nixon Peabody, he would have to fully immerse himself in the company’s culture. Wilson participated in a multi-day rebranding training that was created for Nixon Peabody employees. This is an incredibly unique thing for a designer to do, and it allowed him to clearly understand how the firm wanted the space to embody the brand. These immersive relationships are becoming a staple for client-designer interaction and trust, and Wilson and Lesk are a prime example of how they can be done well to achieve incredible results.

Callie Reid on Vision

Design is nothing without a vision, and Ken Wilson and Jeff Lesk’s vision for Nixon Peabody’s new workplace design was anything but traditional. Lawyers are typically heavily dependent on benchmarks; think about it—in addition to being research-driven, fact lovers, most law work typically relies on precedents. So when Wilson basically threw the idea of benchmarks out the window, he aimed to break from tradition and base his design on forward-thinking, future needs rather than the precedents set by other law firms in the past. A second goal of this design was to breakdown the hierarchy that is so embedded in law culture. In Nixon Peabody’s new office, everyone has the same size office, no matter your title, and no one can shutter themselves up in a private, corner office. In fact, the corner is always a shared amenity space. This democratization of space leads to the cross-pollination of ideas, allowing for all sectors of the company to meet daily. This also enhances group spaces and alternate work spaces like cafés, small huddle rooms and open collaboration areas. While corporations may be whole-heartedly embracing this workplace style, in designing Nixon Peabody’s new, more profitable, more democratic and more sustainable office, Wilson is on the cutting edge of law firm design, and I expect we’ll be seeing much more of this in the future.

Stefana Scinta on Change Management

We all know that change is hard, and most organizations that undergo a workplace transformation inevitably run into a segment of the population who are particularly resistant to change. Spoiler alert: it’s usually the lawyers. In the case of Nixon Peabody, the firm’s leadership knew that establishing internal support for the new office design wouldn’t be easy, and they embraced the challenge through development and implementation of a thoughtful change management strategy. They communicated the impending change, the reasons behind it and the positive impacts the change would bring to the organization, tailoring their message to each stakeholder group. For lower and mid-level employees who tended to embraced the shift with little opposition, the new design meant a more transparent and democratic use of space that encouraged collaboration and challenged traditional hierarchies. For partners, the team focused on the business case; saving money by shedding underutilized real estate meant growth for the company’s bottom line. For the most part, this logic resonated. Nixon Peabody’s clients (who, like all law firm clients, indirectly foot the bill for office space) were also supportive of the new design and the economic story that went along with it; the firm’s goal was to work more efficiently with less space by designing an office that was as beautiful as it was cost-effective.

Above all else, the most important element of Nixon Peabody’s change management strategy was their dedication to engagement at all levels of the organization. The decision-making process was egalitarian, led by firm ambassador groups that included staff in all roles and at all levels of the firm. These ambassadors served as critical channels of communication between management and staff, working to generate support and enthusiasm while providing employees a voice in the decision making process.

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CallisonRTKL

For more than five decades, Callison and RTKL have created some of the world’s most memorable and successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions and public entities. In 2015, our two practices came together under the Arcadis umbrella, expanding our sphere of influence and the depth and breadth of our resources. Our team is comprised of nearly 2,000 creative, innovative professionals throughout the world who are committed to advancing our client’s businesses and enhancing quality of life.