Mission Design: WRI's Office Environment

A message from the President

There is nothing incidental about World Resources Institute’s new office space. It implements a vision and is the culmination of months of work by our staff, architects, contractors,and suppliers. At every step from initial conception to finishing touches, our goal was to express in physical terms WRI’s values – integrity, innovation, urgency, independence, and respect – and our commitment to move human society to live in ways that protect the Earth’s environment. Every material was chosen because it uses natural resources efficiently; many were selected because they are alternatives to conventional, but less environmentally friendly, products. We want to support enterprises that are striving to achieve the sustainable business practices that we advocate. We believe we have succeeded in this goal – our space supports our work in its design and its execution.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed the effort, energy, and in many cases products needed to realize our plans. A wonderful list of donors and suppliers are acknowledged at the end of this booklet. I want to express particular appreciation to Sandy Mendler and her colleagues at Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum, P.C. They worked closely and patiently with WRI staff to create a design that allows for the exchange of ideas so critical to our work. Our commercial broker, E. Randall Lennon of Insignia/ESG, Inc., helped us find space where we could do what we envisioned. Dale Martin of Tramell Crow Real Estate Services managed the project, and Mike Littlefield of the William L. Griffith Co. supervised construction. Both became real partners in the practical execution of the design. Donna Thuotte of Hoppmann Communications surprised us and even herself with her ability to coax donations from firms supplying state-of-the-art communications equipment, which will allow us to get our message out to more of the world than ever before. Finally, thanks to those within WRI whose hard work put it all together: Rich Barnett, Marjorie Beane, Alan Brewster, Allen Hammond, Nancy Kiefer, and Donna Wise.

We consider our new space to be a model of some of the best and most innovative thinking in sustainable design. And just as we can often recognize vibrancy in a stream free of pollutants or clarity in air unburdened by pollutants, we find that our new surroundings are intangibly helping to give WRI a renewed vigor and sense of purpose.

Jonathan Lash