State Street John Adams Building

Fintech company State Street was faced with an equity challenge: providing their Quincy, MA workforce with the same quality amenities and modern workspaces enjoyed by their colleagues in downtown Boston.

The design for the John Adams Building revitalizes a fifty-year-old workplace with a new central courtyard, cafeteria, fitness space, and individual and collaborative workspaces. The result goes beyond the traditional goal of productivity to give State Street’s Quincy employees healthier, more enjoyable work experiences.

With State Street workers required to come in four days a week, it was important to provide far better amenities than before the pandemic. As well as the upgraded courtyard, the new building includes a cafeteria space, coffee bar, fitness center, and updated mothers’ rooms.

The existing courtyard had served State Street workers since the 1970s. But more recently, the space began to literally sink—a result of the site’s location on filled tidelands beside the Neponset River.

The new courtyard solves structural and geotechnical challenges by placing more than 200 galvanized steel piles, tied together with concrete beams.

The 40,000 square foot courtyard offers outdoor connections to up to 4,000 Quincy-based employees

Shaded areas host informal gatherings and meetings, with opportunities for private work.

Workers enjoy views from the second-floor café across the balcony and courtyard. The new balcony can be accessed from the courtyard or café.

The courtyard meets new expectations about how modern work environments should serve employees. Blending work and leisure, it offers a change of pace for State Street’s people while fostering human connections, wellness, and access to the outdoors.

The "Back-to-Office" Push Is Over—But Workplace Strategy Is More Important Than Ever

Read Perspective