As Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, wanted to evolve the definition and creation of workplaces, EFM brought a strong strategic vision to the position of Global Head of Design that she held there for close to four years, building in excess of thirty projects across the globe under her tenure. Headquartered in New York, Bloomberg employs more than 19,000 people in 192 locations around the world, which include 146 news bureaus in 72 countries for more than 2,400 news and multimedia professionals.
EFM's new strategic vision continued the Bloomberg tradition of excellence, but with the intention of expressing the brand in different cultural contexts. In an age of increasing homogenization and lack of differentiation the intent was to create a sense of delight, surprise and arrival, besides fulfilling the many, complex functional needs – in essence to create a sense of high performing place in different geographies.
Design Direction has a dual custodian responsibility: of the brand from the client side and of the design concept for the agency side. The adopted design strategy implied working with local talent, rooted in local culture and relationships. Extensive research was conducted to identify architectural practices with the required background, the right design affinity and the flexibility to work with a complicated, opinionated and "educated" client.
The public spaces are a strong branding element, centrally located and in proximity to work spaces like the training rooms. Traditionally Bloomberg workspaces are open and create a seamless transition between client facing and internal areas.
The ultimate goal of all projects, irrespective of function, size and location is to facilitate the creation of knowledge, considering all quantitative and qualitative factors that impact the end result, as workspaces should be viewed as an investment in human capital.
