As a world leader in technological innovation, it’s no surprise that LG Electronics’ North American headquarters presents a futuristic vision of work campuses, complete with reclaimed and expanded green spaces, renewable energy, unique office floor plans and internal- and public-facing installations of the company’s various cutting-edge products. Situated on a 27-acre wooded plot abutting the Hudson River in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the meticulously designed 350,000-square-foot headquarters building offers staff and visitors a visionary environment that combines sustainable building design with copious LG technologies, including hundreds of commercial displays in various use cases.
According to Steven Yu, Director of Building Operations for the LG North American headquarters, every facet of the campus is thoughtfully designed to create a low-impact, high-productivity work environment that leverages LG products to reduce emissions, ensure competitive operations and provide direct value to the local community through publicly accessible educational installations.
“Following the model of our headquarters buildings in South Korea, the North American headquarters demonstrates LG’s commitment to employee health and wellness, corporate social responsibility and industry leadership in community engagement,” Yu explained. “Through world-class architectural design led by HOK and eye-popping technological installations completed by AVI-SPL and LG staff, this unique office celebrates LG’s achievements and advances from large-format commercial displays and desktop monitors to energy-efficient appliances and climate control systems.”
Who Said No One Likes a Show-off?
It’s immediately evident to anyone visiting the site that this corporate headquarters is just as much an LG product showcase as it is a bustling den of productivity. Featuring dedicated showrooms for home appliances and home entertainment products, in addition to the education-focused “LG Innovation Lab” available to local schools, the building offers customers and local communities real-world experience with bleeding-edge technologies.
Perhaps the most visible product integration is the vast number of LG commercial digital displays installed throughout every corner of the headquarters. The largest models are found in a 5,000-square-foot dividable multipurpose room, with each side housing one of LG’s 173-inch direct-view LED displays (DVLED). The same model is also utilized in the CEO boardroom as an oversized conferencing and presentation canvas that can operate under virtually any lighting conditions with phenomenal clarity and ease of use.
AVI-SPL, a globally-respected integration firm and longtime LG partner, was responsible for integrating many of the displays throughout the employee-facing areas of the headquarters.
“When LG contacted us for electronic systems design and installation assistance at its North American headquarters, we recognized it as an opportunity to help create a new kind of corporate space that marries modern aesthetics and needs with LG’s leading technologies,” said Robert Martzloff, Regional General Manager, AVI-SPL. “We’ve long considered LG Business Solutions a preferred partner, and this project consistently proved the dedication and expertise of their staff to manage logistics and imagine new office experiences for us to deliver.”
The campus consists of two main buildings, or wings, connected by an 18,000-square-foot glass “cube” atrium. Several hundred commercial displays produced and sold by LG Business Solutions are installed throughout the interior spaces. From ultrawide LG desktop monitors in offices and at workstations to the nearly four dozen 49-inch LG digital displays providing menu boards and an L-shaped video wall in The Servery cafeteria, each room highlights the benefits and uses of LG commercial displays.
Each wing contains multiple meeting and conference rooms of varying sizes that offer BYOD (bring your own device) connectivity to digital displays and remote collaboration equipment. The largest spaces are outfitted with 98-inch 4K models, while medium-sized rooms and huddle rooms offer 86- and 55-inch models, respectively. Each floor also includes an open-plan “work café” space that houses 75-inch digital signage displays used for messaging. Large-screen displays also are integrated into the newly opened LG Academy HVAC training center and Skyline Showroom demonstration kitchen.
“We have displays installed throughout the wings that provide an always-on messaging platform that allows us to communicate consistent brand messages and company information to employees as needed,” Yu explained. “By utilizing so many different LG products and displays, we’ve created a work environment that represents our ingenuity and achievements while deepening employee appreciation for the products themselves.”
LG’s Science Hall Concept Comes to America
Following the success of the youth-oriented Science Hall in LG’s South Korean headquarters, the company created a 5,000-square-foot LG Innovation Lab on the third floor of the atrium to present sustainability-related experiences and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) education through cutting-edge displays. The interactive exhibition space features transparent OLED displays, ultrawide Stretch displays, touch-sensitive displays and more, with each delivering unique benefits for a museum-like field trip opportunity that engages students with captivating science education and provides hands-on experience with new technologies.
From multiplayer educational games on large format floor-mounted displays to a transparent OLED display showing an augmented reality video about LG’s sustainability goals and products, each installation is sure to keep kids engaged and interested in important timely topics.
That brings us to the showpiece of the LG Innovation Lab, which one really needs to see to believe. Like something out of a movie, 32 curved open-frame LG OLED displays create a wave-shaped video screen that towers over visitors and surrounds them with life-like underwater videos of aquatic creatures. It’s an experience only found in the world’s largest science museums and aquariums, giving local school districts a unique opportunity to generate excitement in young students.
“LG’s first science hall-style installation in North America offers local children an edu-tainment experience that rivals major museums,” said Yu. “From top to bottom, we’ve worked to maximize the value of this space to the local community and economy, whether it’s interactive videos about climate science, sustainable technologies and beyond.”
Going Green for People and the Planet
In addition to developing useful workspaces and showroom environments inside, a core goal of the new headquarters project was to transform the plot of land from a climate-damaging sea of asphalt into a lush green space that returns the land to a more natural state. With more than 1,500 newly planted trees, a 50 percent increase in green space, two acres of green rooftop terraces, improved woodlands, developed gardens and a landscaped walking trail, the exterior provides workers with a stress-relieving nature retreat just outside their doors.
This reclaimed natural environment is paired with multiple sustainable technologies that helped the headquarters campus achieve LEED Platinum certification, a distinction currently held by fewer than 900 new-construction buildings in the United States. One of the most obvious parts of this initiative is the 60,000 square feet of rooftop solar panels on the north and south wings and the parking garage, which can provide up to 30 percent of the electricity used onsite during the day. (Purchased green power covers the remainder so the building is in fact 100-percent powered by renewable energy.)
A less obvious yet impactful sustainability benefit is LG’s displays themselves, which are designed to minimize power draw and can be controlled remotely through multiple protocols, including LG’s on-board webOS™ software platform. This allows the entire digital display network to be turned on or off all at once, and even be scheduled for automatic operation, enabling precise control of electricity usage.
In addition to benefiting from ENERGY STAR® certified LG digital displays, appliances and HVAC equipment, workers can directly contribute to increased sustainability by utilizing LG electric vehicle charging stations found in the parking garage. The building itself is designed to reduce energy usage, with specific areas of the glass facade featuring horizontal louvres that protect against glare and heat gain.
What’s more, the building’s sleek five-story horizontal design has been applauded by national and local conservation groups for protecting the iconic vistas and integrity of the nearby Palisades Park, a national natural and historic landmark.
Envisioning a New Office Reality
Whether it’s the variety of meeting spaces with appropriately sized digital displays and conferencing equipment, the comfortable common areas that offer digital messaging opportunities or the public-facing Innovation Lab with its awe-inspiring technological design, LG’s North America headquarters has reimagined what a corporate campus can be. Every piece of this riverside development expresses LG’s Innovation for a Better Life brand mission and embodies the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
This unique headquarters campus is now a business-focused product showcase and experience center, offering U.S. customers, employees and community stakeholders a stunning example of what can be achieved through innovative thinking and technological breakthroughs.
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