Sustainability targets are increasingly shaping workplace interiors, but few projects demonstrate how carbon reduction can directly influence spatial design decisions. Through the renovation of its New York Midtown studio on the 54th floor of the Empire State Building, Corgan presents a workplace shaped as much by environmental performance as by architectural intent.
The studio integrates carbon-conscious thinking into the material, operational, and spatial framework of the workplace itself. The project was developed around a goal of reducing projected energy use by 50% compared with similar New York properties catalogued under Local Law 84, with annual energy analysis informing multiple stages of the design process.
Designed in consultation with the high-performance design guidelines of Empire State Realty Trust, the renovation incorporates LED lighting with daylight dimming controls, high-efficiency workstations with sleep modes, energy recovery ventilation systems, and future readiness for connection to a new all-electric central heating plant within the building.
Reuse and embodied carbon shape the interior strategy
Some of the project’s most notable decisions emerge through the relationship between embodied carbon reduction and the experience of space. Instead of relying on conventional suspended acoustic ceiling systems, the design team introduced sprayed insulation, reducing embodied carbon while also creating higher ceilings and a more open interior environment.
Elsewhere, the existing sub-floor was exposed and finished in place of installing new carpet, a material often associated with higher embodied carbon within office interiors. More than 80% of the studio’s original glass markerboards were also retained and reused as part of the renovation strategy.
Throughout demolition and construction, high carbon-impact materials including gypsum board, metals, ceiling tiles, and carpet were reviewed against lower-carbon alternatives in collaboration with manufacturers and product representatives.
Material quantities and environmental data were then compiled through One Click LCA’s Life Cycle Carbon North American tool to calculate the project’s embodied carbon footprint.
The renovation also established material category Global Warming Potential limits within project specifications, giving contractors defined carbon caps benchmarked against industry averages. Sustainability reporting requirements covered Environmental Product Declarations, Health Product Declarations, FSC certification, Cradle2Cradle standards, and low-emitting product data.
A workplace used as a demonstration of carbon-conscious design
The studio was designed to meet the International Living Future Institute’s Zero Carbon Certification standard, which verifies the reduction, elimination, and offset of operational and embodied carbon emissions across a 12-month performance period.
Construction energy use was also tracked throughout the process, including powered equipment usage by tool type and estimated operating hours. Alongside the renovation, the studio expanded composting and recycling initiatives in partnership with the building, introducing dedicated composting stations and standardised recycling systems across work areas.
More than a workplace renovation, the project demonstrates how carbon-conscious decision-making can influence both the operational performance and spatial character of contemporary office interiors. In Corgan’s case, the Midtown studio becomes both a functioning workplace and a practical demonstration of how sustainability metrics are beginning to influence interior architecture itself.
