LinkedIn offices in the Empire State Building include a hidden speakeasy
Social network LinkedIn's offices in New York's Empire State Building include a room lined with vintage telephones that leads to a secret bar (+ slideshow).
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
International firm Interior Architects (IA) was tasked with creating a "fun and vibrant" workspace for LinkedIn's sales team on the 28th floor of the iconic Manhattan skyscraper – the highest of the levels the company occupies in the building.
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_sqb.jpg)
"LinkedIn requested a range of informal lounge and collaborative spaces, a cafe, a fitness room, and better circulation paths to separate work areas," said IA designer Lauren Helman Foley. "They also wanted opportunities to personalise the space, as well as creating a 'destination floor' through the addition of amenity spaces."
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_14.jpg)
The entire floor is treated as a "club level" and recreation space for employees, with amenities such as billiard tables and a screening room, as well as a speakeasy.
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_25.jpg)
The hidden room is accessed via a vestibule that is covered with 133 rotary telephones.
One of the phones unlocks a concealed door when the receiver is lifted off and replaced, allowing visitors to enter the bar area decorated with patterned wallpaper and an eclectic mix of furniture.
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_29.jpg)
"If you're not sure which phone it is, you can call it with a number passed through the office by word of mouth," Helman Foley said.
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_17.jpg)
Bright blue was used to cover all of the surfaces in the central lift lobby, from which a feature wall in the same colour forms a ribbon around the communal areas.
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_13.jpg)
In different areas, this element incorporates a built-in seating unit, a gallery and a storage area for billiard equipment, until it terminates as the ceiling for the screening room.
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_22.jpg)
The rest of the spaces largely follow a black, white and grey colour palette, although an informal meeting area is surrounded by bright red curtains that match a carpet, the furniture and a lampshade.
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_19.jpg)
Formal meeting rooms are more sombre, fronted by glazed walls and decorated with floor-to-ceiling photographs of New York alleyways.
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"The conference rooms were named after 'hidden' New York streets or tertiary streets that aren't very well known," said Helman Foley. "For example, there is a small conference room named after Tennis Court St, one of the smallest blocks in Brooklyn."
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_18.jpg)
Workspaces on the 28th floor are populated with clusters of height-adjustable desks in the western and northern portions. To the south, views out of the windows take in the nearby Flatiron Building and Lower Manhattan beyond.
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
"The LinkedIn sales teams spend a lot of time on their phone headsets so it was important that they not face one another like they would in a typical benching layout and also that they have paths to walk on while they are on the phone," Helman Foley said.
"They pace a lot. Thus, the meandering path became a secondary design concept on the 'club level'."
![LinkedIn offices in New York City by IA](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/06/LinkedIn-offices-New-York-by-IA-Interior-Architects_dezeen_468_15.jpg)
Along this route, one wall is decorated with black and white photographs of employees' pets, while drawings of empty picture frames run down another white corridor.
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A linear indigo ceiling fixture is designed to help visitors navigate back to the circulation core.
Photography is by Eric Laignel.