Client: Comcast

Overview

Building on a 20-year relationship with Comcast, Gensler was enlisted to lead a comprehensive and holistic interior design project of the company’s 1.3 million square foot Comcast Technology Center (CTC) building in Philadelphia. As lead architect for the interiors, Gensler designed a vertical campus for 5,000 employees, Comcast’s current and next generation of tech-savvy engineers, product developers, broadcast teams, and software architects. The design stimulates connectivity, innovation, and collaborative ways of working to empower employees and support Comcast’s evolution from a cable provider to a tech/media powerhouse.

Credits:
Workplace: Design Architect, Gensler, with collaboration from Foster + Partners; Executive Architect, Gensler
Showcase Labs, Town Hall and Conference Center, and Accelerator: Design and Executive Architect, Gensler
Fitness Center: Design Architect, Foster + Partners: Executive Architect, Gensler
Marketplace: Design Architect, Daroff Design Inc.; Executive Architect, Gensler
Building Lobby: Design Architect, Foster + Partners; Executive Architect, Kendall Heaton Architects

Goals

With a focus on reflecting the creativity and innovation happening across Comcast and within the local arts community, the art program is one of the largest site-specific, commissioned art collections for a corporate workplace. The result complements the CTC’s architectural language, celebrates the inventive spirit and maker culture of Philadelphia, and reflects Comcast’s investment in the past, present and future of the city.

Process

The call for local artists came directly from Comcast’s leadership, who enlisted artists with a connection to Philadelphia to create a workplace emblematic of Comcast’s community focus and long-term investment in the city. Together with Vick Art Advisors, Gensler reviewed artists’ portfolios and curated a final group to reflect a diversity of experience, visual style, background, and media type. The commissioned group includes fine artists and street artists, sculptors, illustrators, graphic and textile designers, and photographers. Before the artists began, we developed “briefs” for each of them to insure they understood the context of the environment as their canvas, and the mission of Comcast. Each artist was allotted a highly visible area within the tower to feature their work, either in main connecting corridors or in the 3-story, loft-like atria spaces that cascade down through the tower. Works were produced in response to Gensler’s interior design themes within each loft and the three conceptual tenets of connection, authenticity, and creative potential. The art pieces work in conjunction with the architecture, color palette, and furniture layouts to create unique environments that allow employees to choose a style that works best for them.

Additional Information

Comcast has used the installations as a way to connect with the broader Philadelphia community through hosted events and art tours, as well as an online “catalog” and interactive digital tours for visitors. Each commissioned artist is featured in a dedicated area that showcases their biography and samples from their creative process. In addition to commissioned art, furniture pieces were also sourced from local makers, artisans, and small-scale manufacturers, which enhance specialty spaces such as the LIFT Labs, the Town Hall, and the central gathering spaces at each loft. The artisanal works add warmth, texture, and hand-made character.