By Lois Weiss
Computer giant IBM opened its new 269,000 square-foot headquarters at One Madison Avenue during a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Gov. Kathy Hochul and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Redeveloped and enlarged by SL Green from the former granite CS First Boston headquarters, design architects at Gensler have taken two sprawling 90,000 square-foot floors along with two others that are half the size and made them warm and comfortable.
As Krishna said, the architectural team has "created a space that fosters collaboration and technology development."
There are not rows and rows of desks but instead, neighborhood-like spaces with a variety of seating areas and tables for groups of around 25 to 30. There are large private phone booths, meeting rooms of all sizes and seats of all sizes to inclusively fit all body types.
In fact, there are just 455 seating/standing desks for the 1,900 people that IBM will be bringing from roughly nine locations scattered across the city. Color schemes tend to be soft dusty blues and browns with blond woods while the loud, royal IBM logo blue is used sparingly for elevators corridors and the tall staircases that connect the floors. Around each staircase are more soft seating areas with AI generated artwork in lively pastels.
The firm has its own entrance opposite Madison Square Park that's enhanced by a curlicue artwork. After getting through security, an escalator leads to the second floor's client-facing spaces.
There are food areas and enclosed meeting rooms as well as a gathering area where CEO Arvind Krishna cut the ribbon along with Hochul, Schumer, New York State Senator Liz Kreuger, Partnership for New York's Kathryn Wylde and IBM executives Joanne Wright and Gary Cohen - a former Trump appointee.
NYS Senator Liz Kreuger, IBM's Gary Cohen and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna
The three along with Gov. Hochul had a wild semi-private discussion in front of photographers about title companies being way overpriced and unneeded as title can be secured by block chain. Sen. Kreuger believes it is a barrier to home ownership costing New Yorkers "millions each year" and both Cohen and Hochul agreed.
This is a discussion that is sure to pop up in the future.
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and Gov. Kathy Hochul
Some of the client rooms on the second floor of IBM's new space
Employees will be relocating from its historic location at East 57th Street in the black granite tower at 590 Madison Avenue that it developed and occupied until this year. In 1994, that building was transferred in a sale and leaseback to Edward J. Minskoff.
In 2013, Minskoff became IBM's landlord at his new 51 Astor Place building on East 8th Street that has most recently hosted its Watson division, which too will be decamping for One Madison.
The second floor innovation lab includes a tech enabled ping pong set similar to what was used at the U.S. Open tennis tournament and shows how the paddle hits the ball and then the travel of the ball. At the end of the match, stats are produced along with a story of the match. The one this AI generated was wrong however, as it though the smaller speed was better.
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