Turner Broadcasting’s Techwood Campus | Rapt Studio

The Masterplan:  Our masterplan for Turner Broadcasting’s Techwood Campus, came at a time that the company was looking to the future of broadcasting and questioning everything that they were doing from a business perspective. Along with this, they hired us to look at the entire Atlanta Techwood Campus to develop a plan for the renovation of the interior and exterior spaces to better support their new focus – to engage the consumer, to break with convention, and to reimagine television.

The Food Hall:   Our design for the Turner Market was the first project to roll out of our masterplan for Turner Broadcasting’s Techwood Campus. This project came at a time that the company was looking to the future of broadcasting and questioning everything that they were doing from a business perspective. To help with this endeavor, they hired Rapt Studio to look at the entire Atlanta Techwood Campus and to develop a plan for the renovation of the interior and exterior spaces to better support their new focus – to engage the consumer, to break with convention, and to reimagine television.

Our first task was to design a two-story food hall/gathering space for the campus to come together and to signify the beginning of a new day at Turner.  The design of the Market came at a time when people across the globe were turning their backs on the concept of the food court and cafeteria and looking for a more authentic, genuine collection of local vendors, artisan bakers, and more chef-centric menus. 

Our design offers a wide selection of cuisines as well as places to eat, drink, and gather.  The design aesthetic plays off of the concrete and steel of the existing building and integrates finishes, materials, and furniture that results in a space that feels as though it could have been there forever – without felling nostalgic. It’s a space that is warm and hospitality focused, but planned for real work to get done. It’s a place where people now look forward to going to, to eat, to drink, to see and to be seen. 

The Market may have signaled the coming of a new day at Turner, but at its simplest, it has become the welcoming, heart of the campus.

The Hub:  The Hub has become the crossroads of the campus, with a main thoroughfare through the building connecting the EAT and MEET courts, making the location of this multi-use conference and gathering space key.  With large, technology driven meeting rooms of various sizes, the Hub offers spaces that are not available on workplace floors, but instead are shared amenities located at campus intersections. The design is collegiate and collaborative, offering spaces for unplanned interactions and impromptu discussions. 

The materials are warm and the furnishings comfortable – everything to entice the use of this interactive and inspiring meeting space.

Outdoor Areas:  Our design for the outdoor space turned what was a series of walkways between buildings into a series of purpose-driven courtyards.  Our Eat Court is just that, an outdoor space designed to support and foster gatherings around food – conveniently tumbling out of the food hall, juice bar, and coffee spot.  The Meet Court is positioned between two more workplace focused buildings, one of which houses the new “Hub” conference center, allowing space for meetings and gathering to take place outside of fully WiFi-supported and powered outdoor “rooms”.

The furnishings are more hospitality focused allowing for employees to choose from an array of different spaces to meet or to just get away and think over a cup of Joe.

Branding and Graphics:  With the architecture taking form, we developed the graphics package, weaving it into the design of the space at its core. 

The heart of the design is modern and whimsical without being silly or childish.  We utilized the idea of adding color to the wayfinding and worked to rename all of the buildings and spaces on campus to engender Turner’s view of reimagining Television to their campus.

The result is a coordinated, powerful, and brand driven graphics and wayfinding program that has been fully integrated into the new design of the campus.