EisnerAmper previously occupied a 19,000-square-foot space in San Francisco's Financial District, with a traditional office layout that isolated staff behind high-walled cubicles. Wanting a space that fostered collaboration, the firm landed on a 12,000-square-foot office space in the same neighborhood, with an open plan, a variety of meeting and conference rooms, and a town hall area that is reconfigurable to serve a variety of functions.
The national accounting and business advisory firm tapped Francis Cauffman Architects (FCA) to develop a workplace strategy that would breakdown perceived hierarchal barriers within the company, opening up the space for teaming and creating opportunity for employees across all levels to engage in daily collaboration.
The space takes on a blended residential, hospitality, and corporate aesthetic through its wallcoverings, fixtures, and furniture to achieve the business goals and vision of future EisnerAmper locations. The town hall center was designed to act a space for events, training sessions, and as an everyday hub for employees. It houses the company's complement of food, snacks and beverages for staff while accommodating space for catered dinners, cocktail hours, as well as group fitness and wellness activities and other company-planned events. The look of the center features a combination of grey and dark black wood found throughout and is complemented by a color palette of gold and teal to tie back to EisnerAmper's brand colors.
Wanting all employees to have access to natural daylight and the surrounding views of the San Francisco Bay, FCA was intentional in their planning of the perimeter spaces along the window line, with the exception of visitor and group meeting rooms and the town hall. This new office is about choice, versatility and interaction - staffers can use workstations with sit-to-stand desks that promote wellness for those employees who are constantly at their computers. The partners of the firm moved from traditional offices to the open workstations where they are co-located with their teams, a decision promoted by the EisnerAmper leadership committee to help reinforce a culture where the partners are more accessible to the seasoned talent in the firm. The clusters were designed to have a leader at the helm with supporting staff working in an adjacent four-person bench, allowing for an increase in communication and interaction to continue to build a culture of mentorship within the team.
Surrounding the workstations are meeting rooms that serve a variety of postures: soft seating lounges that serve as spaces for pre- and post-meeting functions, standing height focus rooms and small intimate conference spaces - intentionally all equipped to have the same interactive experience with technology they have at their desks. These multi-purpose rooms were designed for impromptu meetings between employees or for when quiet space is needed for heads-down work. Eclectic in their design, each room features varied, residential-inspired wallcoverings, light fixtures, and furniture pieces that provide an intimate and highly curated feel. Additionally, EisnerAmper added to the curated feel of the space by assigning room names to all the enclosed meeting spaces based on nearby neighborhoods and attractions.
The resulting design of the new SF office, suitable for 65+ employees, is a fresh, comfortable, and technology-rich workplace to support EisnerAmper's future vision and business goals.
Photography: David Wakely