The first Havas Village was established in Paris two-and-a-half years ago; since then, 18 more have been set up across the world, as part of a large-scale, global consolidation and rebranding effort by Havas, a multinational advertising and public relations company with locations in 100 countries.

Monday morning, August 25, 600 Havas employees – staff members from Havas Media, Arnold Worlwide, Havas Edge, H4B and Havas PR – worked, for the first time, out of Havas Village Boston, located inside the revamped Burnham Building.

Each separate Havas branch occupies its own space, across four floors inside 10 Summer Street, space that used to house the old Filene’s at Downtown Crossing. 

Boston’s Havas Village looks anything but a department store. The Sasaki-designed digs features zero private offices; the floors, the walls, the glass-encased conference rooms are blandish and warehouse-esque – but the combination has a calming effect; and, despite no shortage of desks and working tables, everyone is either standing, walking, meeting or chatting.

This is how people work in the 21st Century: employees collaborate. 

Julie Hall, the managing director of Havas PR, told me during a walkthrough of Havas Village, that the  collaborative, open-space on display throughout the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the Burnham Building, is part of a global design trend – and, of course, the other 18 Havas Villages across the world.

But Havas Boston is unique; no other Havas Village has moved into a building with such historic significance as the Burnham Building, Hall said. 

Watch a time lapse of Havas Village construction:

While Havas Boston inspires – and reflects – new, innovative working environments, it still very much tips its cap to the Burnham Building’s past tenant, Filene’s.

Scattered throughout the “village” are salvaged and refurbished bits of the old department store – old wooden bannisters, window frames, brick walls, just to name a few. And each conference room is named after a Filene’s department.

But instead of shoppers, the “village” is filled with employees, some of which sport custom-made, red Havas Media “Heats” headphones. And here, at the Havas Village, when someone exits the “silverware” department, she or he is greeted by a beer vending machine – not a checkout lane.

Take a look inside…