MKDA designs 6,500 s/f office for Kepler Equities at 600 Lexington Ave.

Leading corporate interior architecture firm MKDA has designed 6,500 s/f of office space at 600 Lexington Ave. for Kepler Equities' first-ever U.S. office. The European investment bank, which has offices in Frankfurt, Geneva, Madrid, Milan, Zurich and Paris, had limited space needs for its foray into the U.S. marketplace, but did require a flexible layout and savvy design that would convey its brand to a new customer-base. "Kepler Equities' office space was designed to accommodate the firm's immediate staffing needs while also keeping in mind the firm's expectation for quick growth," said MKDA president Michael Kleinberg. "Of equal importance was the creation of an office environment that communicated the company's brand to its employees, vendors and a client base largely unfamiliar with the firm." "While most corporate offices lack a central focal point, we gave Kepler Equities a central design feature with its trading area," said MKDA project manager Stan Judovits. "We used specialty translucent glass panels, movable sliding glass barn doors by Haworth NEO, and lighting to create divisions of space and to offer the traders a sense of privacy." MKDA also outfitted the trading space with millwork, stone flooring and sheetrock ceilings to create a polished, classic modernist space. Indirect lighting was used to balance soft illumination and brightness, while translucent Natali glass was used to divide the company's three private offices. The firm's conference room, which offers unparalleled views of Lexington Avenue, was equipped with high-tech telecommunications, including voice-data and flat screen televisions. MKDA is a corporate space planning and interior design firm with offices in New York City and Stamford, CT.