Over the last nearly quarter of a century, OneDigital has positioned itself as a steward of business growth and people potential. With its own exponential growth came the opportunity to create a corporate headquarters befitting the power player it has become. Acting on the company motto of “doing well by doing good,” OneDigital leadership enlisted the creative talents of Hendrick to articulate a vision that would honor the company’s past while making way for its future.
As a tech company that provides insurance, financial services, and human resources, OneDigital supports its clients through various digital platforms, offering personalized, tech-enabled solutions for a contemporary work-life experience. Since its founding in 2000, the organization had evolved around and outpaced its workplace surroundings, with offices that no longer reflected its progression as a technology leader. For its employees, there was also a physical and emotional disconnect from not having contiguous spaces, as it had piecemealed more offices together over time.
“OneDigital had outgrown its previous space, both as a brand and as an organization. The company had evolved and required a space that reflected its current identity and growth,” said Stephen Wells, Hendrick principal and project lead. “While the former office environment was functional, it no longer aligned with OneDigital’s dynamic and innovative culture.”
The client wanted to ensure that its refreshed national headquarters reflected the same idea of the contemporary work-life experience it helps provide to its clients. Nationally recognized for a culture of caring, OneDigital’s teams enable employers and individuals to do their best work and live their best lives. A relocation next door represented the latest opportunity for OneDigital to invest back into its employees’ award-winning workplace experience and celebrated corporate culture.
Designed for a True Sense of Community and Inclusivity
Achieving this ambitious goal took more than just a series of meetings and presentations; it required creativity, collaboration, and team communication from the start. Central to its client-focused philosophy, Hendrick integrated OneDigital into the process as an extension of the design team. This ensured efficient use of time and resources to understand practically and stylistically the needs and wants of the client. Through various brainstorm and visioning sessions that sought out and incorporated very specific feedback every step of the way, the two teams worked in partnership to refine the design until the perfect new headquarters emerged.
The project’s full multi-faceted scope involved bringing together the Corporate Services and Georgia Region teams—several hundred employees in total. The Hendrick team was tasked with providing more opportunities for employees to meaningfully connect and collaborate. An existing gathering area and the smaller “Sky Café” were used regularly but lacked the excitement and larger, usable space OneDigital leadership felt would elevate the organizational ethos and culture, reflecting its ongoing evolution.
With its longstanding company culture in mind, OneDigital’s new headquarters was designed to foster a sense of equity and well-being, providing different options for an increasingly neurodiverse workforce. While catering to the employees who work there day in and day out, the welcoming design also makes clients feel like they are part of the organization. One of the hallmarks of the new design was a larger employee hub envisioned to create a true sense of community with various setups to support different work styles and postures and drive different kinds of connections.
“OneDigital wanted to create a space big enough to foster a true sense of community and strengthen the culture, with room for more people in one place, allowing for impactful interactions and connections,” added Wells. “The design drives people to the same space, even if they work on different floors, so employees interface with team members they do not usually see—while also finding efficiencies in replacing certain forms of electronic communication with impromptu face-to-face interactions for quick questions and more.”
Making an Impact with Materiality
The client also wanted a “wow” factor and moments of delight whenever employees and guests stepped off the elevators. As a tech-forward provider of insurance, financial services, and HR solutions, there was a balancing act between being perceived as fun and techy while also being viewed as strong and stable.
“Visually, one way this balance was achieved was through the design’s materiality,” explained Wells. “Warm wood surfaces, vibrant colors, and nanoscreen focal points for a more engaging, modern vibe are counterbalanced with stone and other hard surfaces that convey stability and strength.”
In OneDigital’s newest era, the spaces are part of the company’s ongoing efforts to showcase the established powerhouse it has become over the past 24 years, including the naming rights to the building that now serves as its home. Hendrick helped bring the vision to life for the company's next chapter, creating a new environment that operates as the nationwide organization's headquarters—its crowning jewel. Now that its corporate and regional teams are all under one roof in the new space, OneDigital is even better poised to help its clients achieve their aspirations for health, success, and financial security.
