TPG Architecture creates an "office as stadium" for Major League Soccer headquarters
North American football league Major League Soccer has moved its New York headquarters to the Penn 2 skyscraper and commissioned US studio TPG Architecture to have it mirror the dynamics of a soccer pitch.
The office opened earlier this year just before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which also coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of the Major League Soccer (MLS) organisation and football's "surging cultural momentum", according to TPG Architecture.
The two-storey office integrates elements from a football stadium, according to the studio, such as an entrance area that resembles the tunnel players run through to enter the field.
"The 'office as a stadium' concept emerged from feedback the MLS Commissioner had collected from current and former players, coaches, retired athletes, and long-standing employees about what they hoped to see in the new headquarters," said the studio.
"The architectural layout mirrors the dynamics of a soccer pitch, utilising fluid curves inspired by the physics of a moving ball and the momentum of the game to inform how the space is experienced."
Visitors enter through the tunnelled elevator bay clad in custom mesh weave that is "goalie net-esque". LED lighting behind the walls and ceiling-mounted LED screens can be programmed to display branding for visitors, clubs, or sponsors, according to the studio.
This space leads into a reception area, and beyond that, a double-height lobby is centred around a grand staircase. A wall of jerseys surrounds one side of the reception area, while the Championship Cup is displayed on a pedestal on the other.
The grand staircase connects to spaces such as meditation and wellness rooms, coffee bars and a bottom-floor cafe that are together referred to as the Midfield, or a central space where employees can gather and interact.
The staircase itself is lined with a digital LED banner that represents different tiers of a stadium, and flashes players and branding.
At the bottom level, the floors open up into the cafe area and a "dugout-style" IT technical corner that takes cues from the technical area of a stadium, where coaches gather during a game.
Elsewhere, conference and meeting rooms are lined with screens and primarily grey carpeting and seating. Bold "grass green" and cobalt "MLS-blue" tones were also used across furniture and accents.
Employee working floors are lined with a patterned carpet and desk units.
The studio said it incorporated a diagonal slash motif throughout the project, pulling from the MLS shield logo, which features an elongated slash across its centre.
TPG Architecture also completed a headquarters for the NHL in Manhattan and the office of an advertising agency in North Carolina.
The MLS is the primary football league in the United States and Canada and was founded in 1996 after the US hosted the 1994 World Cup.
Dezeen recently rounded up the 23 stadiums slated to host the 2030 World Cup.
The photography is courtesy of Major League Soccer
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