a person walks down a white staircase into an office common area

February 21, 2024

Dynamic Staircases Encourage Movement in This Tech Office

2023 Best of Year Winner for Commercial Staircase

“Movement” was the design concept for this 16-floor tech workspace in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a notion exemplified via a series of dynamic feature staircases that encourage physicality and interaction while expressing and celebrating the flow of foot traffic between levels. Designed by Utile and Merge Architects, connecting three of the floors is an asymmetrically stacked ribbon of steel, its ash balustrade morphing into banquette seating at the base. The swooping form exerts a gravitational pull, inviting staffers to look over and enjoy views of the activity. Another stair with a geometric switchback profile makes a statement in bold blue, its translucent Panelite sidewall filtering the motion of ascent and descent through to the opposite side.

See Interior Design’s Best of Year Winners and Honorees

Explore must-see projects and innovative products that took home high honors.

2023 WINNERS

a person walks down a staircase with sky blue walls

a black staircase near illuminated wall panels

PROJECT TEAM

UTILE: MIMI LOVE; CHANTEL KOCHER; CLAUDIA PORRAS; JACK CORRIVEAU; PETRA JAROLIMOVA.

MERGE ARCHITECTS: ELIZABETH WHITAKER; DIANA TOMOVA; CHRIS JOHNSON.

Projects
Explore This Dark and Moody Cinema in Wuhan, China
Taking cues from an aerial view of a cityscape, One Plus Partnership designed a 90,000-square-foot cinema as a dark, marble-clad metropolis in China.
Projects
Go into the Void in this Tech Office by BA Collective
Fresh air, sunshine, and an exterior program were among directives for this development in Los Angeles by BA Collective that caters to tech industries.
Projects
Gensler and Arcadis Team Up on Capital One’s Virginia Campus
Gensler and Arcadis design Capital One’s corporate campus on the Block A site in Tysons, Virginia as two towers connected by a glass atrium.