mercedes_final_highres

Workspace to Support

Creativity and Innovation at

Mercedes-BenzResearch and Case Study by Work Design Magazine

Sponsored by Haworth

December 2014

Copyright © 2014 by Work Design Magazine

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In October 2013, Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America,

Inc. (MBRDNA) moved into a new three floor, 72,000 square foot headquarters

in Sunnyvale, Calif. The space, designed by IA Interior Architects, includes an

auto garage and lab, hardware and software labs, and a large studio space where

designers and engineers work collaboratively on full-scale prototype models and

concept cars of the future. The building is home to 170 employees who focus on

research, advanced engineering design, autonomous driving, digital UX, product

development, and testing for Mercedes-Benz cars.

With the new facility, Mercedes-Benz has:

1. Consolidated the headquarters from two locations, bringing the design and

engineering teams together under one roof

2. Designed an innovative space that contributes to recruiting and retaining the

best engineering talent in the Bay Area

3. Integrated the Mercedes-Benz brand by relying on the company’s design

philosophy for cars—“sensual purity as an expression of modern luxury”—as a

design direction for the building

4. Future-proofed the space so that it can continue to support MBRDNA’s work at

least ten years into the future

W W W. W O R K D E S I G N . CO M 03

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“It’s a very unique facility, especially in terms of having designers and engineers collaborating in the exact same studio space. This is really the future of Mercedes-Benz, and the automobile we are creating here.”

Johann JungwirthFormer CEOMercedes-Benz R&D North America


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Introduction

Silicon Valley Workspace as Competitive Edge in the Technology & Automotive Industry

“Cellular Transparency” & Activity-Based Work

Conclusion

Expressing the Mercedes-Benz Design Philosophy in Workspace

CONTENTS

Introduction

It took us a minute—standing in the parking lot of the new MBRDNA HQ, having

just experienced our first morning commute on 101—to wrap our heads around

the reality that car companies are becoming as much like tech firms as they are,

well, like car companies. But think about it: When cars can drive themselves, what

will you do during the ride?

That’s what they’re working out at MBRDNA. The designers and engineers in the

new HQ focus on developing autonomous driving technology and the related

digital user experience. Their workplace has to be emotionally intelligent; it has

to respond to their needs. In early visioning sessions, they laid out the concept:

innovative, collaborative, elegant, well-integrated. “German precision meets Silicon

Valley” came up more than once.

The result of this vision has been deemed a runaway success. According to Johann

Jungwirth, who, at the time of our interview was the CEO of Mercedes-Benz R&D

North America (he’s since taken a position at Apple), the hard work has paid off:“At

the end of the day, we want people to feel like they’re at home; that they have

everything around them to support their work. The workplace adapts to them;

they don’t adapt to their workplace.”

Examples of the way the space adapts—and the way it feels like home—are

everywhere. The IA designers have worked tirelessly with MBRDNA execs to choose

materials that express the elegance and innovation of the Mercedes-Benz brand

throughout the building.


“German precision meets Silicon Valley.”

On the second and third floors, the research and development departments are laid

out in what IA describes as “fluid configurations to provide the maximum required

just-in-time mobility defined during interactive user interviews”. Employees can move

among 120 fully adjustable workstations, as well enclosed offices, meeting spaces,

and huddle and phone rooms, depending on the job at hand. Across all of it, there are

114 individual climate zones controlled by Nest thermostats.

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IA turned each department into a “neighborhood” that’s identified by color and

amenities, and subtly separated from the others in a series of smaller suites—

conference rooms, huddle rooms, and phone rooms—by sliding glass partitions that

are also used as writing surfaces.

“To me, the building represents the cutting edge of a bigger trend of creating these

atmospheres,” said Dr. Michael O’Neill, a senior research strategist at Haworth.

“That’s where we want to be. We want to keep people connected, we want to have

them engaged with the organization and with each other. Overall, this space—and

the very successful design of this space—is a great example of this trend.”

“We want to keep people connected, we want to have them engaged with the organization and with each other. “

Dr. Michael O’NeillSenior Research Strategist

Haworth

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“Cellular Transparency” & Activity-Based Work


IA dedicated the first meetings with MBRDNA

execs to an intense visioning session to set the

course for the project.

“First, we talked about the structure of the teams

[at MBRDNA],” said Pietro Silva, a principal and

design director at IA. “We sat with the engineers

and said, ‘How do you work?’” They found out

that the designers and engineers usually work

together in teams of six to twelve people; it’s a

highly collaborative group that, heretofore, had

found its traditional environment—cubes, high

gray walls, the works—inhibiting.

“It’s an open and transparent space. You can see from one end of the building to the other. It fosters collaboration and open communication.”

“That’s how we came up with the idea of

neighborhoods, and transparency,” said Silva. “We

drew up a cellular system that’s very transparent.

The glass boxes define the ‘cells’, and small

neighborhoods are activated by destination

spots.”

“If you look at the plan (below) it looks like a

project that’s very divided in boxes, but when you

experience the space, you can see through the

entire floor plate,” he added.


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With a transparent, cellular system like this one, there are different building blocks

that can work together. You can connect different neighborhoods and parts of

the plan, and there’s a natural traffic flow, with more informal “bump ins” among

employees moving between workstations, enclosed offices, meeting spaces, and

the huddle and phone rooms. Most of the employees have removed the short

acrylic panels between their Knoll height-adjustable desks, furthering the sense

of openness, and curved walls in many areas help with the flow and the sense of

openness.

“You might have a two-hour conference call in a phone room, that way, employees

aren’t taking calls in the open space,” said Jungwirth. All of the huddle rooms and

phone rooms are unassigned and first-come, first-served. Only the conference

rooms have schedules. The huddle and conference rooms are all enclosed in glass or

have at least one IdeaPaint wall.

In another clever culture touchpoint, the conference rooms are named after cities,

and huddle rooms are named after autobahns. “There’s an international population

here and world highways made a nice concept,” said Silva. “It was a Mercedes

engineer who came up with the idea.”

1 3

1. OPEN OFFICE2. AUTO LAB3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT4.MEETING AREA

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As for confidentiality in such an open environment, Jungwirth said that they control

it with a simple process of “not letting people into spaces where confidential material

is present.” But otherwise? “It’s a truly open and transparent space,” said Jungwirth.

“You can see from one end to the building to the other. It fosters collaboration and

open communication.” And it’s different from the way they do it in Germany, where

designers and engineers are required to work in separate buildings.

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It also fosters movement—beyond the many choices of activity-based work

environments, employees also choose spaces within the building dependent upon

which floor offers which amenity (the amenities being bars that feature Odwalla

drinks, espresso, juices, fruits, or ice cream). All five aren’t available on every floor,

but rather in dedicated common kitchens. Desperate for ice cream? You’ve got to

walk for it.

Ditto each floor’s game room: you’re in the mood for foosball? Proceed to the

second floor. Want to race a model Mercedes-Benz against the latest Audi on a mini

racetrack? Head down to the first. There’s even a “chocolate lab”—decidedly not of

the canine variety—where employees share the stacks of chocolate bars that they

bring back from trips to other Mercedes-Benz facilities around the world (in addition

to chocolate, the space houses simulators used in the R&D process).

Jungwirth compared this layout of “destinations” to a city or town: “You have

different neighborhoods, different marketplaces, different places to go,” he said.

“As in a town where there is only one grocery store, the different types of bars”—

Odwalla, ice cream, etc.—“only exist once.”

“The opposite mentality is the supermarket,” said Silva, and Jungwirth interjected

with a wink: “We’re a boutique shop.”

“This building and the spaces within it represent a shift away from the traditional way of thinking about how to make people productive. It’s an emotionally intelligent building.”

Dr. Michael O’NeillSenior Research Strategist

Haworth


To help with way-finding in this “town”, the

designers have given each floor a color—yellow,

green, or blue—and they’ve used three shades

of each color to demarcate spaces by use: The

darkest, most intense shade is reserved for the

bars, huddle spaces, and support areas. In other

words, the darkest shade “highlights the hot

spots.” As you get closer to the core or the outside

edges of the building, the walls have been painted

with the lightest shades. And speaking of outside,

the designers have made sure to take as much

advantage of outdoor opportunities as possible,

creating seven terraces and balconies. Outdoor

meetings and lunches are popular.

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Expressing the Mercedes-Benz Design Philosophy in Workspace


“It’s an open and transparent space. You can see from one end of the building to the other. It fosters collaboration and open communication.”


When you walk into the building, you can’t miss the sculptural silver pattern in the

ceiling over the lobby. What takes a second to register is that it’s actually a loose,

abstract iteration of the Mercedes “star”. It’s nothing if not sensual, and that’s the

point: the latest design direction for Mercedes-Benz cars is “sensual purity as an

expression of modern luxury”, and they worked tirelessly with IA to translate this

into the finishes, materials, and the design of the space.

Outside, they’ve made a similar move, but this one stops traffic: a Mercedes star—

twelve feet in diameter—rotates in the afternoon sun. It’s the only one like it in

the world, on the ground level, at the entrance. Up until now, the company has

required that these behemoths be attached at the highest point of the building.

Decisions like that one have earned the Silicon Valley HQ a sort of “standard bearer”

reputation in the company; it has even influenced the design of a planned R&D

facility in China.

“The Mercedes brand is so well integrated into

the space,” said Bob Fox, founder of Work Design

Magazine. And it doesn’t stop with the logo:

The Diamond Grille—get it?—café is next to the

lobby (though even here, the floor tiles have

been joined at a 120 degree angle to form the

ubiquitous Mercedes star). Several employees

can dine at a gorgeous communal log table, the

centerpiece in the space (Jungwirth spent hours

poring over trees to find just the right one).

He even selected the ceiling paint, made up of

several different shades of silver to create “just

the right look.” Outside, there are large silver bike

boxes for employees who prefer to pedal to work;

Kartell Masters chairs populate the outdoor

dining area.18


“It just feels like our space,” said Jungwirth. “It’s

not like the Google space, or anybody else’s. It’s

ours. Especially with all of the silver paint.”

Jungwirth even lent his hand to door heights in

the lobby, raising them to nine feet so that they

are able to pull cars into the building. Right now,

they’re showing off the only existing model of

the “Vision Gran Turismo” in the lobby, which

appears in PlayStation’s Gran Turismo 6. The

lobby also features a seven-panel interactive

wall with nanotechnology film and a touch

sensitive screen.

Upstairs, there’s space dedicated to “Mercedes

Rev”, the group’s internal startup incubator,

where employees can leave ideas on the

IdeaPaint that spans a full, curved wall (even the

curves in the walls and the ceilings mimic the

lines of some of Mercedes’ latest models). In

September, teams presented their prototypes,

and MBRDNA awarded $15,000 to the top team

to develop their idea.

Jungwirth said that all of this was intended to

contribute to the sense of Mercedes’ brand and

culture in the space. “It’s the total amount of all of

these details, from the movable desk to the glass

walls—like in this meeting room, in the doors:

no metal frame, no wooden frame,” he said. “It’s

aesthetically attractive and beautiful, but also

functional.”

O’Neill agreed, sharing a list of words that come

to mind in the space: “Elegance, simplicity,

timelessness, high-touch, residential cues, and

bringing the outside in.”

“This space is at the forefront of workplace

evolution,” he said. “We’re seeing this shift away

from metrics for success—all about productivity

and linear process—to spaces that connect

people emotionally to the company and to each

other.”

“It’s a combination of different factors and if you

try to pull it apart, you don’t have it,” he added.

“It’s sort of the gestalt of the space: it’s all there,

and when you’re in it you know it.”

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Silicon Valley Workspace as Competitive Edge in the Technology & Automotive Industry


Nearly 20 years ago, Mercedes-Benz became the first automotive company to

establish a research facility in Silicon Valley. In the decades since, everyone from

Toyota to Tesla has set up shop. But in the war for talent, MBRDNA’s biggest

competitors aren’t just the usual suspects—BMW, Audi, you name it. Now, as these

companies draw closer to integrating cars into the Internet of Things, they’re

competing even harder for talent with Google and Apple.

“It’s a competitive advantage over other companies,” said Jungwirth. “The type of

people we wanted to attract with the old headquarters—we just couldn’t.”

Jungwirth shared a story about an exit interview with a young engineer, who

worked at MBRDNA while they were still in their old HQ (one building of which

was once—gasp—a law firm): “He told me, ‘I’m frightened by these walls’,” said

Jungwirth. “I knew then that this was a change we’d need to make.”

“The only performance measure here is the amount of new innovation that makes

it into the new cars,” said Fox. “There is a fail fast mentality, and rapid learning from

lots of things that didn’t work.”

“At the end of the day, we measure the performance of this space based on whether Mercedes-Benz is a leader in the industry; ahead of the curve.”


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The investment in this new building reaffirms

Mercedes-Benz’s commitment to technology and

innovation, and to the designers and engineers

who create it. On the people side, the new space

is supporting satisfaction and creativity. And on

the technical side, they were able to add eight

new competency centers and new equipment,

including a room for a 3D printer so that they can

prototype new modules and interior components

within minutes.

“We’re working now on this car of the future

and we were actually able to bring it into the

building for the advanced user experience

designers,” said Jungwirth. “At the end of the

day, it’s actually about eliminating technology. It

needs to be seamless. We want the car to be your

digital companion—who you are, where you

want to go, what music you want to listen to. All

of that is created right here. We wanted to take

the brand to a new level in Silicon Valley.”

Conclusion

“This is where cars are being designed ten and twenty years out into the

future,” said Fox. “So not only does the space have to support Mercedes-

Benz now, it has to be able to adapt to a variety of changes that are”—

forgive the pun—“coming down the road.”

Jungwirth agreed: “The amount of change in the next ten years will be

greater than in the past 100. We’re in this building until 2025. We needed to

future proof,” he said.

They’ve done it by creating a workplace that adapts to the employees;

not the other way around. It’s exactly what they’re working towards in the

space on their cars of the future.

“What this space does so successfully is creating that emotional connection,

that atmosphere,” said O’Neill. “It’s remarkable. Mercedes’ vision of the car

matches their vision of the future of the workplace.”

“It’s remarkable. Mercedes’ vision of the car matches their vision of the future of the workplace.”

Dr. Michael O’NeillSenior Research StrategistHaworth


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