Martin Agency completes 17,000-square-foot renovation at Shockoe Slip HQ

David Freeman

David Freeman

David Freeman

David Freeman

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A Richmond ad giant has just completed a big round of renovations at its Shockoe Slip headquarters. 

The Martin Agency recently upgraded a 17,500-square-foot wing known as “3West” inside its 160,000-square-foot office at 1 Shockoe Plaza.

Kicked off in April of last year and completed this month, the renovations of the third floor west wing added the likes of an open area event space for up to 150 people, 11 additional closed-door spaces, three client presentation spaces, a “pitch zone” for new businesses, four executive offices and a new catering prep area. 

The upgrades also included a “wellness wing,” which is meant to serve as a space for employees that provides a little more privacy, that has features like two “mother’s rooms” for lactation, two wellness rooms, an additional conference room and some “heads-down” work spaces for employees to have some more peace and quiet if needed during the work day. 

Martin Agency spokeswoman Katherine Sheehan told BizSense the privacy of the wellness wing was designed with mothers who are returning to Martin after being on maternity leave in mind. 

The firm hired locally based architecture and interior design firm 3North and construction firm Kjellstrom & Lee for the project. Martin declined to share project costs for the renovation. 

In shades of greens, oranges and browns, the LEED-certified project incorporates natural materials and modern design elements like exposed brick, light and wood ceiling installations and a zig-zag, sawtooth glass partition to create an open work environment, said Adrienne Wright Cleveland, chief operating and culture officer at the Martin Agency.

The renovation includes funky furniture, a glass zig-zag partition and more. (Photo by David Freeman)

The project features an open fireplace fixture, a set of neon orange couches and some botanical touches in an updated throughway area that has proved particularly popular among Martin employees thus far, Cleveland said.

Cleveland, who was promoted to her current position last year after joining the agency in 2023, led the renovation project. 

After initiating a work-style study in her first year at Martin, Cleveland said she saw employees have increased productivity with a hybrid work environment. Though planning for the renovation started in 2022, findings from the study helped shape the direction for renovations of the 3West wing. 

“We considered adding more square footage, but because the analysis supported a hybrid environment at Martin, it made more sense for us to reimagine the space that existed to better suit and serve our employees,” Cleveland said.

Adrienne Wright Cleveland. (Photo by David Freeman)

These renovations aren’t the first for the Martin Agency in recent years. Recent renovations include a makeover of its second-floor creative space in 2011, and a 2019 overhaul of the building’s atrium and lobby, replacing decorative metalwork with a gallery-like space filled with natural light. 

The 3West wing was the only area of Martin’s headquarters that hadn’t been worked on in recent years, Cleveland said. 

The firm previously planned for a 3,000-square-foot rooftop addition in 2022, but that project did not move forward. 

Martin leases the building, which was built for the agency in 1996, from Highwoods Properties. 

Martin employs around 370, Sheehan said. 

The agency remains under the leadership of CEO Danny Robinson, who took on the position last year after nearly 20 years at the agency. Robinson succeeded Kristen Cavallo, who was recently named the new executive director of the Branch Museum of Design.