CBRE Opens New Tech-Enabled Office at One Oxford Centre in Downtown Pittsburgh

CBRE announced the opening of its new Pittsburgh office at One Oxford Centre, on 301 Grant Street in the central business district. The firm relocated approximately 90 employees to 19,158 square feet on the 40th floor of the building.

The new office is part of CBRE’s Workplace360 program, the company’s long-standing approach to workplace strategy for its corporate offices. The space showcases CBRE’s “Future of Work” space standards, including innovative technology and a wider variety of collaborative spaces, designed to support hybrid working. CBRE launched its Workplace360 program in 2012 and has since opened more than 100 Workplace360 offices across the globe.

“Moving our employee base into a Class A office space has been my vision and something for us to work toward,” said Mamadou Baldé, managing director of CBRE’s Pittsburgh market. “The work we do in the Pittsburgh office is significant and the new technology and amenities is a model for our clients. The flight to quality continues to bring business back to the workplace and we are excited to be a new Workplace360 destination.”

A cornerstone of the Workplace360 model is its “free address” approach where there is no assigned seating. As many companies move to hybrid work models, a free address approach enhances space utilization as all workstations can be used by employees who are in the office on a given day, rather than sitting empty when a desk is assigned to someone who is working remotely for the day. Additionally, there are a mix of collaboration spaces throughout the office ranging from living room-style to small group huddle rooms and more traditional conference rooms.

“The advent of widespread hybrid work means that offices are now following the playbook of hotels and shopping centers in creating a more compelling, engaging experience for their users,” said Peter Van Emburgh, global head of CBRE’s corporate real estate. “In Pittsburgh, part of that experience comes through in-office technologies like enhanced video conferencing that helps in-person and remote workers to collaborate like they’re in the same room. Other features cater to neurodiversity, such as the office’s 10 different work environments to accommodate a wide range of work styles to fit users’ diverse needs on a given day.”

A CBRE employee committee chose the Steel City’s new office design concept, “movement and connection,” which focuses on the urban setting and steel elements of the city. CBRE sourced all of its office art from local Pittsburgh artists, including Shane Pilster and Baron Batch.

CBRE Design Collective managed the workplace design. Emily Levinson, with CBRE’s Americas Consulting practice, led workplace strategy and change management.

One Oxford Centre is a 45-story, one-million-square-foot, mixed-use office and retail tower located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s central business district. The building includes a five-level glass plaza, the Atrium, which houses shops, restaurants, office space, a food hall, a conference center and the Rivers Club, a 73,000-square-foot private fitness, dining and social club.