Newman Architects Moves (Way) On Up

Whenever designers feel stuck, all they have to do is look out the window for inspiration.

That’s among the reasons for the recent move of Newman Architects from longtime street-level digs to new offices 15 floors above 265 Church St.

There’s The Green conference room. The Lighthouse Point conference room. A room with views of the Yale campus stretching to West Rock, and another where you can see the Q Bridge and the Sound. There’s a line of work stations where the monument at the top of East Rock feels within reach. 

The firm, known for its renovations of Battell Chapel, City Hall, and Union Station, has been moving into this new space this month from the walkway near Morse and Stiles colleges on 300 York St., where they’d been since 1980. 

Though it was just a few blocks, the move is reflective of the ​“broader view” the firm has taken, Abigail Carlen, Newman’s director of marketing and communication, said during a ​“sneak peek” as the New Haven architectural giant settles into its new digs.

“For decades, we were considered Yale’s architect, and we were located literally at the heart of Yale,” she said of the firm, which was founded in 1964. 

“We still do work for Yale, but we also do a lot more commercial projects, a lot more multi-family housing, a lot more work involving K‑12 education, so it makes sense for us to be at the heart of New Haven.”

In the gleaming lunch space, senior associate Ken MacLeod was at a tall table enjoying wraparound views of the city. 

“The kitchen area in the last place was woefully inadequate,” he said as he finished his salad. ​“Maybe it was great when everyone ate out for lunch, but that was the ​’80s.”

“This space is a representation of what this move means,” Carlen said. ​“It’s a place where we can have the whole team together in ways we couldn’t before.” 

On a shelf outside the Lighthouse Point conference room was a collection of awards and commendations. Among them: an award for Dunkin’ Donuts Park, where the Hartford Yard Goats Play, as the best new ballpark for 2017, and two trophies from the American Institute of Architects’ annual bowling competition.

“We still have quite a bit of unpacking to do,” Carlen said as she led the way past a series of meeting spaces around to the maze of work stations. She said the company opted to keep the setup by the previous owner, an LED lighting company, with a few tweaks.

For project manager Linda Blaszka, who was studying a complex graph of figures at her desk, the open-floor plan is ideal for the company’s team-based approach. 

“When we’re designing, we’re constantly interacting with each other,” she said, as a seagull swooped past her window in the direction of East Rock. ​“The flow of space gives more opportunities for that to happen naturally.”

“On my way to the lunchroom, somebody stopped me and said ​‘hey, can you take a look at another job I’m working on?,’ so we walked over to the tall tables, and they laid the drawings on them,” she said. 

“People that need me or work with me can see me, and flag me down,” Blaszka said amid the hum of industry in the muted light. At the previous location, ​“we were split between two floors, we were divided, so there wasn’t that visual connection.” 

“And fewer productive collisions,” Carlen added. 

Asked if the view is distracting, Blaszka paused, a wry look on her face.

“I think when you’re on the street level, it’s more distracting because there are people and activities,” said Carlen, whose desk is alongside Blaszka’s. ​“Here, it’s pretty static. There might be a bird that flies by.”

“It’s static, but it’s hard not to look out the window,” Blaszka said.

On York, ​“we had very few windows because it was basically a ground floor space with some skylights and some windows in the front,” Blaszka said. 

“I have noticed that being here has brought people who have been working from home back to the office,” Carlen said, leading the way back to The Green conference room. ​“It’s been busier and that’s been really useful, considering our collaborative approach.” 

Another byproduct of the expanded space are Newman’s plans to welcome the community for lectures and events. 

“We’re planning on starting up a lecture series which is something we did in the office decades ago, but once we grew, it wasn’t possible,” Carlen said. 

The series, she said, will include talks from locals focusing on inspiration, from people in creative fields adjacent to architecture, and Newman clients discussing the construction process. 

“The whole idea is to open up this space to everyone, give them the treat of the view,” she said. 

There are also plans to hold board meetings for arts organizations, as well as events sponsored by the New Haven Chamber of Commerce.

“As New Haveners, we are very connected to the organizations in this city — one of our principals is on the board of Artspace — and we’ve had this great history in the city, so I think it just makes sense to solidify our relationships that way,” she added.

“But it’s also part of our design process, especially in our higher ed work, and K‑12 and commercial work. A lot of it is trying to bring the community into the process and I think that to bring people into our own space is just an extension of that.”