Cambridge, Massachusetts
Audrey O’Hagan Architects re-imagined a 31,000 square foot office workplace for Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company (now Takeda Oncology) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The client’s mission was to create a contemporary workplace that inspires and promotes a collaborative working environment.
The design philosophy was inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young Japanese girl who had leukemia. She believed in the ancient Japanese legend of Senbazuru, which promises to grant a wish, such as the gift of long life or recovery from illness to anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes, and she set out to do that. Ultimately, Sadako’s wish was that no other children would suffer from such an illness.
The “origami” concept serves as an inspiration to the scientists and others in the company. It is a visual expression of the “unfolding of new and innovative ideas” in their quest to find a cure for cancer.
The lobby embodies that concept with the ceiling and walls which define the lobby space and reflects the idea of folded paper with LED lights along the “folds.” The continuous custom LED light fixtures represent the first seven folds of a crane in the paper-folding process. The number seven connotes good luck in Japanese culture.
Planning strategy: The entrance lobby to the space is located at the intersection of two walls in the corner opposite the common building elevators. The unconventional corner entrance strategy opens up opportunities to bring natural light into multiple spaces and connect adjacent conference rooms and break room to the lobby from multiple points.
The renovated space maximizes natural daylight by allowing it to penetrate into the center of the space through glass fronted offices.