HQ: Good Design is Good Business is a joint venture of BusinessWeek and Architectural Record. The magazine’s mission is quite simple: to help the you, the nation’s most senior executives, understand that making the right—or wrong—decisions about workplace design have serious strategic implications affecting everything from profitability to productivity; from recruitment to branding.
We know that some of you will be skeptical that design should be a core focus of C-suite leaders. And we also know that some may be a bit intimidated by the subject: “What do I know about design?” These two concerns have informed the way we tell the stories in HQ. First, our articles document the benefits of design with rigorously researched metrics. Second, it is your peers—CEOs, presidents and other top executives—who explain in their own voices how investing in design has paid off handsomely.
American business actually has a long tradition of sparking innovative architecture, from a dime-store tycoon named Woolworth commissioning in 1913 New York’s first skyscraper, to Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building on Park Avenue—the most iconic Modern headquarters ever built and one that still commands some of the country’s highest rents. And HQ shows how this tradition is continuing in a new century: We look closely at the new headquarters for Bank of America and IAC—buildings that are not only brash and ambitious additions to the skyline, but also are proving to be wise investments from a business-performance perspective.
And at a time when the economy is roiling and cost control a top priority, we provide a number of examples of how design can deliver substantial savings—from a law firm whose uniform look across all its offices has put millions back in its coffers; to the latest research that reveals the odds are excellent that you are paying for far more space than you need—and that your offices are woefully inefficient for your 21st-century workforce. Capitol One has saved substantial dollars by shrinking its workplace, not staff. Your company could be next.
HQ also makes the point that it is not just Fortune 500 companies that can reap the advantages of high-quality design. Many of articles explore how smaller companies—including a gunpowder manufacturer in a small Kansas town—can see big dividends from small expenditures.
Case studies form the heart of HQ, and our first issue features our investigations of how good design has translated into good business at some of the world’s best-known companies: The New York Times, Ogilvy, Wells Fargo, Viking Range, and six more. In case after case, we found architecture that was not only inspiring but that directly improved efficiency, attracted top talent, increased collaboration, and sparked innovation. We also discovered that “green” design is more important to business than ever. Thanks to new technology, sustainable features have become cheaper to build—and produce real rewards in reduced energy costs and employee health.
BusinessWeek and Architectural Record have a long history of working together on these types of case studies that focus on the measurable benefits of good design. The two magazines launched an annual awards program in 1997 to recognize high-quality architectural projects that had a positive effect on business, and some of the 2008 winners are showcased in HQ. Haworth’s new headquarters in Holland, Mich, designed by Perkins & Will, is one of our case studies. The office-systems company, by undergoing a physical transformation, has re-created its image and its culture—which has translated into a surge in sales. Edmunds.com, the car-pricing guide, made the list of our Top 20 Best Places to work. No wonder. When the company commissioned Studios Architecture to design its headquarters, the brief was simple: our employees come first. That strategy has led to greater staff retention and increased revenue.
We all know that your biggest asset isn’t your real estate. It’s your people. What design can do is help you get the best from the best of them. We hope that you’re intrigued by that idea and the others that await you in these pages.
| Cathleen McGuigan Executive Editor |
Bryant Rousseau Executive Editor |
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