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www.HartfordBusiness.com • November 13, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 13 FOCUS The 224 EcoSpace Headquarters: 224 Farmington Ave., Hartford Employees: 73 EcoSpace Entrepreneurs T he 224 EcoSpace may be one of the most unique office spaces featured this year, mainly because it's much more than a traditional office. Originally built as a garage, the building was transformed into an arts center in the '80s then left vacant for years. Its latest in- carnation, a 30,000-square-foot EcoSpace, features a traditional art gallery, dance studio, banquet hall and co-working space. It has natural skylights, recycled and upcycled furnishings, an eclectic mix of visual art and interior walls painted in appealing color palettes. It features yoga and dance studios, a meditation room, a café with plans to add on a commercial kitchen, and conference and meeting spaces. The facility is also equipped with a recording studio. A weekly radio broadcast for WRCH FM 100.5 called "Rich Answers" is produced there, and the studio is used to produce podcasts for area entrepreneurs. The winding colonnade does double and triple duty as a space for art exhibits, creative breaks and an island of work stations for up to 65 entrepreneurs. The Business Growth Centre serves as a co-working space. Ten recycled mahogany wood desks, known as "Mahogany Row," and once used by insurance industry executives, deck the room. The centerpiece of the room is a long classic mahogany boardroom desk. Upward Hartford Headquarters: 20 Church St., Hartford No. of Employees: Four full-time employees (with a capacity of 400 full-time members) U pward Hartford is a 27,500-square- foot, high-tech shared office space for entrepreneurs. The recently designed and opened space allows independent workers and entrepre- neurs to share an open workspace instead of traditional cubicles, which promotes interaction and collaboration among entre- preneurs to spark new ideas. Among the perks it offers tenants is shorter leases, office equipment like desks and printers, meditation and yoga classes, Ping-Pong and pool tournaments, video games, hackathons and an array of profes- sional and social networking events in between meetings or work time. The aim is to create a constant feeling of community in a shared working space. Glastonbury's SLAM helped with the architecture and interior design. Willis Towers Watson Headquarters: State House Square, Hartford Employees: 100 in Hartford T he Hartford office of New York global insurance advisor Willis Towers Watson is a strategic tool for collaboration with white floors, mod- ern finishes, and open spaces that have increased functionality. The office also promotes a regional feel by featuring local landmarks and authors in its design. Employees aren't chained to a single desk; they can move around the space, with their technology in tow. There is a mixture of seating in the space: "touch-down" (flex space), assigned desks, collaboration space, meeting and telephone rooms. There are public spaces with couches and chairs, including bar-height seating in both the kitchen and work areas. There are also "neighborhoods," where teams are based, however employees are free to find a spot to work anywhere in the office. All desk seating offers pneumatic desks that may go up or down for a seated or standing work area to improve ergonom- ics. Staff also have access to lockers to store personal items. The kitchen area boasts an arcade table, so that associates may blow off steam while at work, and two giant TV screens in the main conference room (aptly called the Twain room) allow connectivity with other offices, encouraging networking globally throughout the firm. Perkins + Will helped with the office design. PHOTOS | DANIEL WARREN Office furniture seller OFI allows employ- ees to customize their workspaces through adaptable furniture settings. The movable office furniture also allows for common areas to be turned into versatile and multi- functional spaces for brainstorming and creativity. Just off Route 195, a short drive from UConn's Storrs campus, is a non-de- script building that houses research and advisory firm Nerac Inc. But the build- ing also seconds as a tech incubator, home to an eclectic array of technology startups, several of which got their start at UConn.