Dyer Brown designs 25,000 s/f headquarters for True Fit

Boston, MA Dyer Brown completed design of a new Boston headquarters for True Fit. The new office spaces feature cost-effective and adaptable design solutions with extensive graphics, raw materials and other fun flourishes for a high-end yet tech-savvy, downtown aesthetic. Branded elements include inspirational quotations and logotypes of the many companies that True Fit serves with their tools for sizing garments and footwear prior to online purchases.

“True Fit’s clients and partners include hundreds of the world’s leading retailers and thousands of top clothing and footwear brands,” said Dyer Brown project manager Michelle Bristol, IIDA. “The company’s executives needed their new headquarters to make a powerful statement about who they are, along with budget-savvy, strategic workplace setup that empowers True Fit’s team as it leaves visitors with a lasting positive impression.”

True Fit had outgrown its former head office and, following a search around Boston, the firm’s leaders leased the 25,000 s/f space on the 12th floor of 60 State St. Based on initial meetings with the tech firm’s leaders, Dyer Brown proposed a minimalist, rugged design concept favoring a bold, professional flair as well as open, bright interiors with extensive glass and environmental graphics. Exposed building structure maximized ceiling height in various areas, responding to True Fit’s desire for high ceilings, openness and daylight.

Along with the exposed structure and systems overhead, the reception area, conference room and an open pantry breakroom feature a palette of reclaimed timber, polished concrete flooring, and sleek frameless glass partitions. Casual modern upholstered furnishings adds to the raw, rugged sensibility, softened by pendant lighting fixtures and varied displays of client company logos and products. Dyer Brown also integrated reclaimed timber into existing sliding door hardware at entrances to meeting rooms, and designed bespoke wood furnishings including chairs and conference room tables. Ample city views are left open and uninterrupted throughout.

Dyer Brown introduced innovative, cost-effective workplace collaboration solutions throughout the headquarters floor, against a backdrop of glass office walls, wood-grain-look flooring and branded, mural-sized graphics and wallcoverings — all designed in collaboration with the client to enliven work areas with on-brand, inspirational messages. One of those – “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” attributed to Leonardo da Vinci – seems to capture the essence of True Fit and its new headquarters, said Brent Zeigler, AIA, IIDA, Dyer Brown’s principal, president and director of design.

According to Bristol, the new headquarters offices are adapted from a former law firm location, which allowed for a number of creative reuses of existing elements, which needed only minor upgrades. For example, Dyer Brown converted several existing private offices into huddle rooms for smaller meetings and breakout sessions, reinforcing the tech firm’s culture of teamwork and connection. The team preserved black aluminum framing on some glass office fronts and some original lighting systems retrofitted with better lamps and controls. These steps allowed True Fit to concentrate value in other areas “to make a lasting, powerful impression on visitors,” says Bristol, “without breaking the bank.” 

 “With a subdued, focused palette of finishes and furnishings that provide pops of color, the ideas captured in the graphics and True Fit’s people take center stage,” says Bristol. “It’s an unassuming approach that enhances the subtly stylish aesthetic of the company itself.”    

According to Romney Evans, co-founder of True Fit, “It was great working with Dyer Brown on a project that brought our vision to life in a way that balanced our uncompromising aesthetic with aggressive cost management goals.”