Publicis Groupe, Le Truc

Year: 2023
Category: Commercial · Commercial Interiors (<25,000 sq ft.)
Type: Commercial
Status: Built
Firm: Architecture Plus Information (A+I)
Location: New York, United States

A+I partnered with the French advertising giant Publicis Groupe to reimagine a full floor in their New York City flagship building. The resulting space is a “Clubhouse” for their newly formed creative collective, ‘Le Truc,’ designed to fuel creative potential across the organization and serve as the center of gravity for the creative culture at Publicis. It is a novel initiative that has elevated the unique needs of the company’s creative professionals, delivering a space designed exclusively for them to congregate and ideate in, arranged around Publicis’ theory of creativity and underpinned by our strategic investigation.

We interrogated how, where, and when ideas are formed, nurtured, and reimagined – what happens at each step of the journey, where magic happens, and where things fall apart. In response, we developed a program of non-deterministic spaces to suit every type of creative endeavor. There are bullpens, auditoriums, libraries, nooks, and niches near one another to enable an individual to collaboratively test an idea, or retreat to refine one. There are work lounges and a café that anchor the project, acting as magnetic spaces, generating buzz and collective energy.

Rather than designing for universality, the project’s playground-like landscape celebrates difference, with varying colors, light, and modes designed to let each person’s creativity do the leading. Whether it’s a pink tech-less meeting space hidden behind a mirrored door, a nook that’s dark and quiet, or a work counter sunken into the floor, the result is an inspired collective that nurtures the creative instinct. The space is a proof of concept for the future of work and an example of how the office can be a strategic tool for large scale organizations post-pandemic.

Le Truc is something tangible after three years of post-pandemic talk about hybrid work and what it means for the office.