For decades, TRUE Sports made a name for itself in the sports world through innovation and leadership in golf equipment manufacturing. By 2018, however, the company’s operations had expanded to include equipment for a variety of sports—hockey, baseball, and lacrosse to name a few. In light of its change in direction, and the growth that accompanied it, the company set out to redefine its brand and relocate its headquarters.
The renovation project included an extensive overhaul of the building’s interiors, including joining two existing floors with a monumental stair. The office was designed with the future in mind, providing a balance of spacious, open, personal workspaces and flexible collaboration areas and meeting rooms for group work. It also reflects TRUE Sports’ character through elements like its sports themed breakroom. Completed just after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dynamic workplace design allowed TRUE Sports to manage the varied demands of on-site and work-from-home requirements.
The corporate headquarters for TRUE Sports encompasses roughly 23,000 square feet, occupying the entirety of the 20th Floor of One Commerce Square and over 7,000 square feet of the 21st floor. The two floors were previously office space for past tenants; however, both areas were completely demolished as part of the construction of the new headquarters.
Counter to an ongoing trend of shrinking workplace footprints, TRUE Sports increased the size of its office to accommodate its continued growth and to provide larger individual workspaces. The new office also includes an array of collaborative and multi‐purpose areas. Offices and workstations on the bottom floor center on two collaborative hubs—a large conference room overlooking the Mississippi River to the West, and an open workspace with flexible modular furniture to the East. Community is at the heart of the upper floor as well, as conference and huddle areas neighbor an extraordinary break room. Themed around the world of recreational sports that TRUE Sports inhabits, the breakroom and coffee bar feature a built‐in putting green, multiple personalized TRUE Sports arcade games, and shuffleboard in a setting that elicits creativity and fun.
Among the most distinctive qualities of the TRUE Sports office is the fluid connectivity between varying spaces. Creating those connections—and particularly joining the upper and lower floors—posed a unique challenge for the design team. With careful consideration and creativity concerning the existing structure, the team incorporated a monumental stair that doubles as an aesthetic focal point of the office entry and lobby areas.
Considering the profound influence COVID‐19 exerted on the function and design of new office spaces, the forward-thinking approach that TRUE Sports project team brought to its new headquarters align with current best practices. By planning for growth and envisioning a user‐based office environment, the team balanced spacious and isolated deep work spaces with open and flexible community spaces, all of which facilitate social distancing and meet the needs of a modern and dynamic workplace.
The Memphis Business Journal notes that "a company like True Temper can’t just conduct its business outside on the course or diamond. They need a proper, professional office space for a headquarters to achieve at the high level its used to. But, they needed something that also reflected the fun, pastime nature of their work." https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2021/08/05/building-memphis-finalist-true-temper-sports.html
This project was a finalist for the 2021 Building Memphis Awards.