Egon Zehnder Offices
District of Columbia

The new branch offices of EZI had a critical mission, to establish a market presence in the Capitol. With views of the White House, located in an iconic Pei building, the space needed to mediate the conservative culture of Washington while reinforcing EZI’s strengths of global reach, progressive strategy and sharp analysis. The compressed entry made the passage to the main space feel like a back door. The fluid, solid teak wood battens greet the visitor as the reception desk. The lines morph into a vertical screen pulling one into the conference rooms and private office area. Densities of the screen modulate, varying the texture of the wall, but also increasing as privacy is needed by room function beyond. The warm texture and visual weight of the screen are balanced by the graceful, fluid, modern movement of the screen.

In addition to new interiors and funrishings for the CEO meeting room and key public spaces, DYA developed a plan to strategically paint the core walls of the office which cost effectively provided subtle wayfinding, reduced gray box monotony and recharged the open office floor.