Highwoods Properties’ Glenlake Plaza is a Class-A commercial office complex in Raleigh, North Carolina. Despite a large investment in the shared outdoor greenspace, Highwoods was disappointed to find that office employees weren’t using the space. They hired Ironwood Design Group to redesign the outdoor area to make it more accessible and inviting to their tenants’ employees.
After thoroughly investigating what wasn’t working, Ironwood completely reimagined the space to create a welcoming, comfortable outdoor amenity where office employees could relax, work, share meals, and even play, and where companies could bring their teams together for events and parties.
“We kept what worked, and we redid everything else”, Ironwood partner Erik D. Jarkins explains. “We wanted to create an outdoor space that folks really wanted to use”. Ironwood optimized the event lawn by smoothing the grade, building in posts and staking locations to simplify tent set-up for events. Around the lawn, Ironwood preserved the existing bluestone paved pathways and added low seating walls made of fieldstone to create more seating throughout the space. The fieldstone walls are topped with bluestone to complement the existing pavers and planted with abundant hydrangeas and roses.
Beneath shady hornbeams and green maple trees, café seating and tables invite employees outside for al fresco lunches and workspace. And at the ground level, bursts of daffodils and other spring bulbs brighten the space and offer cheerful pops of color. Nearby, pergolas provide more shade with café seating beneath. And for relaxing playtime activities, Ironwood added ping-pong tables, corn-hole and a bocce court.
“No one was out here before”, IDG partner Sam Sampson adds. “Now that there’s more to do out there, and more places to sit and relax, people are out there all the time.” Highwoods even began offering new tenants a welcome gift basket full of ping-pong paddles and balls to invite their employees outside.
For the Glenlake Plaza redesign, Ironwood worked with a tight budget and optimized value engineering to help Highwoods make the best use of their outdoor space. The result is a welcoming, spacious employee amenity that offers something for everyone, throughout the workday, into happy hour, and beyond.
