As the global home of the PGA TOUR, its new headquarters brings the entire organisation under one roof for the first time. The building reflects the progressive spirit of the PGA TOUR, as it embraces new ways of working and collaboration, responding to changing media landscapes and audiences in the future.
Over the past few decades, the organisation has grown incrementally, with offices spread across many different buildings that are largely unsuited to the evolving nature of its work. The new headquarters embody a sense of openness and transparency, with flexible, open floorplates that are non-hierarchical, focussing primarily on collaboration and mobility at the workplace. The focus has been on creating a richer experience throughout the building, while preserving its connections with the surrounding landscape and flooding it with natural light and air. Nature plays a key role in the design, which incorporates principles of biophilia – an inherent affinity for nature found in humans – that is proven to enhance staff wellbeing and improve the quality of the workplace.
Located just south of the TPC Sawgrass - Stadium course, the 187,000 square-foot building is nestled within the verdant landscape and surrounded by water, preserving the existing greenery and wetland areas. The famous 17th hole at Sawgrass provides a point of axial orientation for the building, which is organised as a pair of parallel three-story bays flanking a collaborative atrium. The glazed façades and atrium fill the building with natural light, also allowing for axial views out to the surrounding landscape throughout.
The two building bays are connected by 20-foot-wide bridges that encourage chance meetings, and allow for informal gatherings along the edges, without impeding the flow of people. Similar flexible workspaces are located on the wide terraces along the atrium and the far ends of the building on the upper floor, catering to the need for flexible workspaces to support an increasingly mobile workforce.
Allied to the principles of biophilic design, is the sustainable focus of the project, with the building targeting a LEED Gold rating. The roof has five large skylights that bring natural light into the building. Its extended overhang on the building edge significantly reduces solar gain on the glazed façades. The roof accommodates a series of photovoltaic panels that will support the building’s energy needs. Employee wellbeing is a central theme at the no-smoking campus. The building features a raised floor that allows for maximum flexibility and premium air quality and site-wide recycling facilities.
