Press Release

Architect Montroy Andersen DeMarco (MADGI) completed the construction of Symrise’s New York Studio, a $3.75 million, office and laboratory space for the company’s flavoring, fragrance, sensorial, nutritional, raw materials, and functional food ingredients lines of products. Symrise is the world’s third largest supplier in the flavorings and fragrance market.

Symrise offers more than 15,000 individual products in the flavor and nutrition markets. It serves clients in the food, beverage, pet food, nutraceuticals and aquaculture industries.

“Symrise required a space that would align more with its dynamic corporate culture and bring together various departments formerly located on separate floors," said Steven Anderson, MADGI’s principal. “To address this need, we created a large open space with only seven private offices—five for perfumers and two for executives. Clear glass walls visually integrate private offices into the overall space, while low partitions of the 30 workstations within the open-plan section encourage collaboration and accelerate decision making."

The previous space was inefficiently laid out, with low occupancy density and a high number of private offices and high partitions in the open workspace area. “Before the renovation, the sales force was on one floor and the perfumers were on another, preventing the easy flow of ideas," added Symrise vice president Rhona Stokols. “MADGI gave us an optimized working space, helping us to flatten the hierarchy within the office while still providing for privacy needs in terms of meetings." Reflecting the office’s New York City surroundings, one section, dubbed “the Speakeasy" is a meeting area where the sales force and evaluators (clients) meet with the perfumers. Another meeting area was nicknamed “Times Square" after its rectangular table.

JRM Construction Management served as construction manager for the project. The M/E/P engineer was 2LS Consulting Engineers, and Severud Associates was the structural engineer.

The lab area features two Modula Sintes 1.7 computerized storage system for fragrance components. Construction of the unit created additional challenges for both the design and construction teams, as it required structural reinforcements including the installation of additional steel beams on the floor below. Durable, spill-resistant rubber flooring—Belem by All State Rubber—was used in the laboratory. Not only does it not absorb smells, it is also ergonomically better for the technicians in the lab.

Both the client and the designers focused on incorporating sustainable materials and systems into the design—all specified lighting is LED with controls to maximize efficient use of them, the majority of the specified elements of the design came from local sources (including lighting, furniture, and finishes) with few exceptions.

For more information, visit Symrise’s website.