The Internal Consulting Group (ICG) at Yale New Haven Hospital is a small team of creative individuals responsi­ble for identifying initiatives designed to improve efficien­cies across the Yale New Haven Health System.

In an effort to realize the potential of 10,000 square feet of underutilized space, ICG relocated to the fourth floor of the 1906 Scranton building – formerly the Jessie I. Scran­ton School – located on Orchard Street in downtown New Haven. The fourth floor of this Colonial Revival-style building was essentially an attic used for storage, yet it featured high ceilings, skylights, exposed masonry chimneys, angled exterior walls, and heavy timber trusses. The goal of the project was preserving the existing character of the space while creating a modern collaborative office environment.

During the design phase, ICG stressed its desire for the new office space to not only facilitate collaboration among the staff, but to promote creative thinking, incorporate current technology, and provide outlets for the staff to recharge their minds and bodies during long days and evenings at the office. JSA determined that an open plan for the facility would best meet these goals and simultaneously incorporate its salient design features.

The finished space is organized around a central open office, with individual private offices located along the perimeter of the building and delineated by full height glass walls. To mitigate noise levels in the open layout, a large acoustical beech wood ceiling was incorporated into the design. The offices take advantage of natural daylight from the large perimeter openings and the existing roof skylights, and LED strip lighting illuminates work areas. An elevated collaboration area with an electronic work table and vertical monitor station allows for optimum productivity and accommodates multiple simultaneous users. Additionally, a restoration room was designed to allow for individual mediation or yoga and a separate quiet room provides space for solitude and contempla­tion. The office suite also includes two large conference rooms, both with highly advanced audio-visual systems, and two staff break areas complete with kitchen ameni­ties and a ping pong table to encourage team bonding, friendly competition, and a healthy physical as well as mental workout.