Nike Unveils Stunning New Headquarters in New York City

Over the last year, Nike has been making a move to more closely align itself with New York City. The company, which, for so long has been most closely associated with Oregon, where it was founded, has been looking east. Just today, it unveiled its New York headquarters, and AD got an exclusive sneak peek. NYHQ, as the space is called, will serve as the company’s hub for New York City and the Eastern United States, with its global headquarters remaining in Oregon. Designed by Nike’s Workplace Design + Connectivity (WD+C) team in partnership with Studios Architecture, the workplace spans six floors of an office tower in Midtown Manhattan.

“Our overarching idea was looking at sport through the lens of New York City,” explained Matthew Kneller, Director of North American Communications at Nike. “We’ve highlighted amazing New York sports moments and Nike athletes through graphics, image, illustration, color, typography, and space.” To that end, they brought in a team of design collaborators, including some from New York, such Dark Igloo, a graphic design firm. Much of the furniture was made close to home, in Brooklyn, with such brands as UHURU Design.

In this section of the headquarters, inspiration was drawn from The Highline, an iconic New York City landmark.

The 147,000-square foot-space will include “freestyle” offices, wellness rooms, food and beverage areas, a library, two terraces, a fitness studio, and a basketball court (of course). The sixth-floor terrace features the likeness of a Nike ‘swoosh’ planted into the terrace with Sedum.

One wall shows an iconic (pixelated) image of Michael Jordan soaring through the air at the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest.

Last year, as the company launched its “New York Made” initiative, it collaborated with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation on a pair of basketball courts on Manhattan’s Lower East Side . At the opening of NYHQ, Kneller alludes to where the company has its sights set: “our investment in the city will continue to grow over the years.”