DesirablesInnovative OfficeInnovative Office: BMG Music’s Office has a Sculpture Made of 10,000 Drumsticks

Samantha BrooksJanuary 2020
The office centerpiece is The Venue, where a ceiling sculpture is made from 10,000 hickory drumsticks.

Known for his sophisticated offices for some of the entertainment industry’s heaviest hitters, Tim Gajewski, founder of NxT studio, also created this show-stopping office space for BMG Music in New York. The spaces are located on the 18th floor of the 20-story One Park Avenue office building (Robert A. M. Stern Architects, responsible for creating some of the highest-priced residential buildings in New York, has the two floors below), and serve as the Gutersloh, Germany–based music giant’s U.S. headquarters. The firm manages the song portfolios for Bruno Mars, John Legend, Morrissey, and David Bowie.

The clients did not want a stuffy or uptight workspace.

Industry Music
Location Kips Bay
Scope 25,000 square feet
Interior Design NxT studio
Floors 1

BMG executives requested that “craft or craftsmanship” be key when selecting furnishings and finishes.

Notable Features
-The office’s centerpiece is The Venue, a flexible-use area where artists and BMG employees gather to share a coffee or a beer from the bar, listen to music, or watch the latest client music video.
-A custom ceiling sculpture above The Venue, called Sound and Vision, was fabricated from 10,000 hickory drumsticks. Its shape was created from an algorithm using the music of David Bowie.
-The custom, industrial conference-room table was made by a fabricator in Detroit who provided artisan jobs in a city well known for its rich music history but that has also known many struggles.

Cymbal-shaped discs over the conference table help with acoustics.

Samantha Brooks