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A Blueprint for Inspiration and Collaboration
Barings is a leading global investment firm with locations spanning four continents and 17 countries. Serving as the firm’s headquarters, Barings’ Charlotte, NC location features 205,000 square feet of dynamic design spread across seven floors of the 300 South Tryon building in the city’s Uptown neighborhood. The office is a hub of inspiration, collaboration, and flexibility—the kind of place that makes employees excited to come to work every day. In fact, Barings has used this office as the brand standard and blueprint for all its future locations worldwide.
From white surfaces to glass paneling, and wood features to pops of blue, the Barings' world headquarters is designed for sophistication and timeless elegance. Each floor has a unique purpose designed to meet specific goals. Floors 20 to 24 are designed to help employees of all work styles thrive, with open and private office spaces, conference rooms, and welcoming lounges. Company culture comes to life on Floor 25 with a reception space, a full-service café, meditation rooms, and executive offices. An outdoor patio provides the perfect way to soak up the sun and take in the Charlotte skyline during breaks. Floor 26 is a multipurpose space that benefits team members and clients alike. It features a rotating art gallery display, a custom executive boardroom with a full-service catering kitchen, and the Sky Room—an auditorium-style space with breathtaking views of uptown Charlotte.
“I would recommend Progressive to anybody who really wants to capture where the workplace of the future is going. I’d also recommend them because they’re great people.”
Tom Finke, former Barings CEO
An Office Space Designed to Delight
During design, Progressive’s team of architects considered the journey of each stakeholder through Barings’ global headquarters, from clients to team members to prospective employees. A warm yet sophisticated aesthetic greets each user as they travel through the space, with sitting areas outfitted with sleek and comfortable furniture and working spaces with adjustable height tables. Glass walls on conference rooms inspire transparency and collaboration while offering views to the wider city below.
Since the office is spread over many floors, Barings leadership wanted to give workers a way to connect with those they don’t run into every day. The café and outdoor patio on Floor 25 provide the perfect space for teammates to come together and meet over a meal or coffee. The patio features plenty of greenery, connecting workers to nature and inspiring a sense of calm. Open seating areas filled with natural light offer alternatives for quick conversations and informal meetings.
Driving Organizational Success Through Design
Design thinking is a powerful methodology that helps organizations more fully understand the needs and preferences of customers while developing groundbreaking solutions to their problems.
Working with Barings leadership to integrate this approach into their business strategies and processes, Progressive Companies helped the firm foster a culture of innovation and creativity, enabling them to identify employee and customer needs and pain points and develop solutions that meet these needs in a distinctive and effective way.
Additionally, our team combined its performance-based design expertise with Barings’ goals of fostering teamwork and collaboration, providing connectivity, creating an inspiring place to work, accommodating growth, and engaging the community. The result is a beautiful new space that has set a new standard for the Barings brand and culture.
