Potamus

PrizeHonorable Mention in Interior Design /
Firm LocationBoston, United States
CompanyElkus Manfredi Architects
Lead ArchitectElizabeth O Lowrey IIDA
Design TeamJane Zimmerman, Project Manager
ClientPotamus Trading LLC
Projecthttp://

Potamus Trading is an entrepreneurial team of traders, technologists, and operations professionals specializing in electronic innovations for institutional traders. The company symbol—the hippopotamus—symbolizes their mission “to transform the trader into the master of its environment,” and to have fun doing it. The new 15,000-square-foot office is located in Boston’s Innovation District. At reception, a life-sized fiberglass hippo, painted a soft purple-grey, greets visitors. Just off reception is the main conference room, with a vibrant original art installation filling the back wall. At the heart of the office is the trading floor, lined with oversized windows offering views to Boston Harbor. The room provides varied seating options among trading stations to support different individual work styles. Three comfortable living-room-like areas and three more private niches are located just feet from trading seats, ensuring that traders are ready to conduct trades in which every millisecond counts. Glass-fronted conference rooms and private offices surround the trading floor. The sunlit residential-style kitchen is in constant use for meals, work, conversation, impromptu client entertaining. A wall-size video screen, reception desk that doubles as a DJ booth, and acoustically separate gaming room help employees unwind after the markets close at the end of the day.