Windward HQ
Windward has recently acquired a 1,200 sqm space for its growing team of +70 employees on the premium 35th floor in the 360 Adgar Tower. The new company’s headquarters is situated in the new emerging business centre located near the Nokia Stadium landmark – East Tel Aviv. Partnering with Roy David Architecture Studio, the acquired space needed to transcend the same language as the core values of the marine data analysis company.
The global company, Windward is best known for their data and analytics on the maritime domain. The company is a pioneer in the business as they have created the first maritime data platform, The Windward Mind. The platform analysis and organizes with the use of big data and deep shipping expertise the worlds maritime data, making it accessible and actionable across verticals. From understanding what is happening at sea – from a single ship to commodity trade flows – the platform gives unique insight in decision making across industries.
The overall industrial style that the architecture firm focused on is emphasized by the use of rough wood, untreated concrete core walls and bold rusted metalwork as main materials for the new headquarters. “The space is intelligently designed so that it mimics the environment the Windward company undergoes its activity in. Thus, we wanted to shift our design strategy so that the space would not reflect a luxurious yacht design but that of the harsh industrial ports.” explains the architect and founder of Roy David Architecture, Roy David.
The design strategy is well rooted in the planning of the space. Having a circular layout, the space presented a lot of challenges that the architecture team had to solve in a small time-frame of just two months. As part of the overall design process the company wanted their layout to be open space. This strategy created a series of unique technical approaches designed in collaboration with the execution company, Shin Angel. From specially calculated open acoustic barriers to a supra-structure of 14 new rusted metal columns, each design element was added so that the companies brief was met fully.
“It’s this contrast between an industrial port atmosphere and high-end tailored made office furniture elements that set the space apart from any other project we did. With the use of CNC rough industrial metal elements, custom designed partitions, furniture and light fixtures the space is designed in a coherent language dictated by the core values of the Windward company and the architecture studio’s vision” ,adds the architect, Roy David.