Sep, 2026
Two-Tower Second Phase of Flushing Commons Breaks Ground in Flushing, Queens
NY YIMBY
Office & Workplace Design
Clients come to us to create something that will stand apart in the marketplace.
Workplace design has evolved dramatically, shifting from rigid, cubicle-based layouts to more flexible and human-centered environments. This transformation is driven by a growing understanding that physical space influences productivity, creativity, and employee well-being. Modern offices now incorporate a wide range of amenities, from on-site gyms and wellness rooms to cafés and nap pods, and are designed to support work-life balance and attract top talent. These features reflect a broader cultural shift toward valuing the employee experience as a driver of business success.
Our clients select us to design buildings that attract and retain talent, meet corporate and shareholder goals through high performance design, and make a mark on skylines in cities globally.
Recently completed projects include Winthrop Center, the largest commercial Passive House building in the world.
Winthrop Center includes roughly 800,000 sq.ft. of commercial office space and includes a host of amenties. It is also home to global firms such as Cambridge Associates, McKinsey, and Deloitte, all of whom recognized the value in relocating to a building that reflected their corporate sustainability goals.
Winthrop Center has been featured in Architectural Record and has won a variety of design awards including the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) 2025 Best Tall Building Award of Excellence.
We also designed two buildings for Banco Santander, both of which reflect their goals of divesting from fossil fuels and promoting a sustainable future.
Handel Architects designed Banco Santander's new headquarters building which is under construction in Santiago and will include 800,000 sq.ft. of commercial office with ground floor retail. The project takes advantage of the mild climate by integrating the indoors and outdoors, opening up to the outside in order to dramatically improve the quality of the work environment. We also designed their new corporate office tower in Miami, a 1.4 million sq.ft. building with includes 9 floors for Banco Santander and 18 floors of spec office. The tower includes an external structural diagrid that visually wraps the tower in a quilt of diamond-shaped concrete connections.
Both towers embody our firm’s aspirations for a sustainable future, a more humane workplace, and an enlightened relationship between corporate institutions and the societies that they serve.
Our commercial office projects are designed to be both contextual and visually striking.
We understand the value of design that is both iconic and grounded in a particular place. In San Francisco, our 531 Bryant creates a strong presence through large windows in muscular metal frames, while relating to the neighborhood's industrial past. In Boston, 2 Harbor was designed to reflect the character of the surrounding marine industrial buildings.
