In an era of rapid change a wealth management company must demonstrate agility and a feel for the future while projecting the enduring values that give clients confidence their money is secure. Cambridge Associates’ new San Francisco office combines the spaciousness and light of a modern collaborative environment with the timeless materials—wood, glass and steel—that have always been architectural (and financial) symbols of permanence.
Moving the majority of its Bay Area operation from suburban Menlo Park to San Francisco, the company sought what every company that makes such a move seeks: a work environment (and convenient location) attractive to young urban professionals, an address with the prestige of the city and a vital central hub for the activity that a busy financial services firm orchestrates every day.
O+A designed spaces that encourage a collegial balance between the new business world’s culture of informality and the traditional business world’s protocols of established practice. Conference rooms in framed glass provide both visual transparency and acoustic privacy. A reception area is welcoming and warm while conveying the quiet strength of Cambridge Associates’ 40 years. Finishes, furniture, lighting—all reflect the understated elegance that is this project’s overriding spirit, but with modern accents: a polished concrete surface, a sculptured light fixture.
With Cambridge Associates’ Bay Area team now centered in San Francisco the company’s new office itself becomes a message of commitment to new ways of thinking and working. Cambridge sees this space as a home to “human energy” and to the teamwork that has made the company a leader in its field.
