Completion: 2013
Square Feet: 84,000
Our Vision
The new Jacobs corporate headquarters occupies four and a half floors in an existing building in Pasadena, California. For its new headquarters, Jacobs wanted to create an open workstation environment to reduce hierarchy and increase visibility, communication, collaboration, and mentoring opportunities.
(eliminated first sentence)As a company that employs a staff of 65,000 worldwide in offices of millions of square feet around the globe, creating effective standards to accommodate the work styles of various business units, types of working professionals, and cultural and geographic settings has a significant impact on the productivity and operational costs of the company.  Moreover, the Design of the Corporate Headquarters sets both the principals as well as the esthetic for the Jacobs offices around the world.  Department managers and principals were consulted about workflow and day-to-day activities. The overlay and integration of infrastructure and technology requirements also factored heavily into the development of the standards.
Creative Solutions
The program for the new headquarters accommodates 300 executives and corporate personnel in a visually open, connected work environment. A challenging feature of the space was a ring of structural columns located in the middle of the lease space. To address this, the design team arranged workstations in the outer ring formed by the columns and located huddle rooms, touchdown spaces, and lounge areas in the inner ring around the building’s core. The mix of spaces supports different types of work that happen throughout the day. Room partitions of full-height glass were used to maximize visibility and extend the day-lighting from the perimeter deep into the floor plates.
The design team also turned the structural columns into a design and safety feature. Each column was encased in a floor-to-ceiling frosted glass box, and each box was lit from above to create glowing pillars that define the path to emergency exits, much like an exit path on an airplane. 
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Beyond the programmatic elements, the design added significant opportunities for the non- programmed employee interaction. Each floor is provided with an attractive coffee bar and kitchen, which is designed with stools and a counter for the serendipitous meetings.  One of the heritage functions of a meeting room lounge was also maintained at the center of the executive floor and has commanding views of the entire San Gabriel Mountain range.  In addition there are a variety of lounge seating and stand up work stations along the exterior windows to encourage both ergonomic variety as well as casual conversations. 

The design was a new and modern departure for Jacobs. The overall effect was achieved through the creative and considered use of simple materials and a clean color palette. In an unexpected move, the custom designed corporate boardroom table is a sleek white expanse of solid color core plastic laminate inset with polished stainless steel panels for wire management and a dramatically raked end towards the screen.  Sculpted sheetrock lends variety and interest to conference rooms on each floor. The blue glass is one of the materials used in each of the Jacobs offices and was used as a primary feature at the headquarters
The main lobby is centered on a primary view of the City of Pasadena and the magnificent City Hall.  From the test tubes set in a grid on the wall that accommodate fresh flowers to the “skylight” lighting over the seating group, the understated but refined space orients and greets the visitors with a clear message of Jacobs professionalism and focus on the future.
Jacobs College
The headquarters program also included the creation of a large, dedicated space for Jacobs College. Occupying half a floor, Jacobs College brings employees and clients from around the world into headquarters throughout the year for specialized training and opportunities to learn from and engage with colleagues across business units. The College provides expandable meeting rooms with state-of-the-art audiovisual and technological capabilities as well as a large pre-function space, kitchen, and lounge to encourage mingling over food and drinks. Unique features include custom-designed lecterns, 30-foot-long suspended benches for ample seating, and a cyber café with luggage cubbies and computer stations to print boarding passes for travelers on the run.
Sustainability
Several sustainability strategies were employed in the project, starting with a location that is a couple of blocks from a light rail station. The open space plan with clear glass partition walls maximizes day-lighting. A cradle-to-cradle workstation system was specified. To control heat and glare, a fully automated window shade system is tied to a radiometer on the roof, adjusting the shades based on the sun’s angles throughout the day. An abundance of LED lighting, all of which is controlled by motion sensors, also is integrated with the window shade system. Broadloom carpet with high recycled content was manufactured in Southern California and installed. And all construction waste was recycled.
Schedule
A 26-week construction schedule that was shortened to 14 weeks challenged the design and construction team to work quickly and creatively. One key strategy shaved seven weeks off the schedule. Knowing that 20,000 square feet was the threshold for Tier 1 reviews for city approval, the design team submitted each floor plate (which was just under 20,000 SF) for individual approval, shortening the review time from eight weeks to one. A close and collaborative working relationship between the design team and contractor also helped the project hit the target date for substantial completion.