Get a sneak peek at our visit to MBRDNA — one of this year’s top three Work Design NOW projects — and stay tuned for the full case study and video.
Last week, we paid a Work Design NOW visit to the new Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America (MBRDNA) headquarters in Silicon Valley and oh man: it’s good.
MBRDNA engineers and designers focus on research, product development, and testing for Mercedes-Benz cars, and every pore of the space oozes with support for this kind of work. The company’s present design philosophy is “sensual purity as an expression of modern luxury,” and the goal at MBRDNA was to translate that from the car to the workplace.
Inside, we felt like we were swimming in ideas: dry-erase sketches are drawn with abandon on the glass panels that allow each of the building’s three floors to be both open and enclosed. MBRDNA CEO Johann Jungwirth worked closely with Pietro Silva and the rest of the IA team to get everything just right, from the shape and size of meeting rooms to the silver paint on the cafeteria ceiling.
And if the building isn’t enough to attract top tech talent, the rest of the trappings are there, too: free ice cream, game rooms, and ample outdoor space. And after fifteen minutes on a balcony under the Sunnyvale sky, trust us: you’d pay them to let you work there.
Stay tuned for more coverage of MBRDNA, which will include our full case study and video.
Work Design NOW is sponsored by Haworth.
