Profile

Pitney Bowes World Headquarters

Stamford, Connecticut
Completed 1986

Corporate headquarters with attached parking garage
 

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This building is located several blocks from the client's former headquarters to accommodate corporate growth and increase efficiency through consolidation of 19 scattered facilities. Providing offices and parking for 1,100 employees, the pink and gray granite building was undertaken as an integral part of a master plan to enhance Stamford's mixed-use South End. It responds equally to client requirements, community needs, and the environment.

Along the street, the headquarters is a six-story urban building with a 500-foot-long "front porch" scaled to the height of nearby houses. As the porch turns the corner it becomes a public gateway to Long Island Sound. On the park side, the headquarters presents a rural aspect, wrapping its (now four-story) crescent-shaped volume around a natural wooded knoll in order to leave large portions of the landscape undisturbed. The design strategy increased perimeter offices, maximized views, and allowed a corporate garden and outdoor dining terrace to be created, all while ensuring unobstructed public access to key waterfront recreational areas.

The headquarters' interior is organized around a 95-foot-high stair hall and a 295-foot-long internal boulevard bordered by informal seating. Both skylit components were designed to aid circulation while creating an attractive setting for the exchange and development of new ideas.

Major Components

300,000 s/f net office space (typical office floor 95,000 s/f); 10,000 s/f lobby/exhibition space; 3,000 s/f monumental stair hall; 8,000 s/f internal boulevard; 100-seat auditorium; 500-seat cafeteria; outdoor dining terrace; executive garden; fitness center; commissioned art (Helena Hernmarck tapestry); attached 3-level parking for 1,100 cars

I. M. Pei & Partners services

Community Planning, Site Selection, Site Planning, Complete Architectural Services, Interior Design

Structural

Skilling, Helle, Christiansen, Robertson, New York, NY

Mechanical

Jaros Baum and Bolles, New York, NY

Landscape

Hanna/Olin, Philadelphia, PA

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