Billtrust Denver

Billtrust is the inventor of payment cycle management. They provide cloud-based automation of invoicing, payments, and cash applications. More simply, they are a major player in the ‘Fintech’, or financial technology, sector.

Location: 4400 Kittredge Street
Size: 26,077 SF
Contractor: Provident Construction Company
Professional Partners: Task Project Management, MDP Engineering Group, Apex Engineering
Photography: Cooperthwaite Productions

Room to grow

Designed and built in 9 months, Billtrust’s Denver office is hidden within a nondescript office park of single story flex-industrial buildings. The exterior façade is lacking but it’s what’s inside the tilt-up walls at 4400 Kittredge St. Denver, CO that had Billtrust engage our studio; 26,077 square-feet of blank slate with room to grow. After vacating a highly compartmentalized masonry building, Billtrust could finally provide spaces to support the workstyles and needs of the company’s two contrasting divisions – business operations and software developers.

“The team at Acquilano proved to be creative, professional, and easy to work with. They listened to our ideas, wants and needs, then created an awesome space that is special as well as functional. Our office has become a showcase for our recruiting team: both prospective and current employees love the environment.”

– Ed Jordan, CFO Billtrust

“We wanted an environment that we thought would be better suited for our business needs and an environment that people would view as fun to come to work to.”

Power in planning ahead

Addressing the needs of the traditional business units like Sales, Customer Service, and HR was common practice; we planned for departmental adjacencies, privacy requirements, lowered workstation panel heights to improve communication, and located private offices along the interior preserving views for all. For the software developers we first had to educate ourselves on the “Scrum” workflow method, an agile process for completing complex projects. Scrum teams work together completing a backlog of tasks each within a set period of time, known as a sprint. We observed programmers switch between individual and group work sporadically, stopping to move post-it note tasks forward on the project’s task board. This led us to develop our prototype planning modules nicknamed “Scrum Pods”. Each consisted of two rows of benching workstations separated by a generous aisle furnished sparsely with a planning table and a mobile task board – this open space allowed Scrum team members to wheel task chairs together for impromptu meetings. As part of each Scrum Pod module, teams also have direct access to an enclosed room with robust technology.

Amplifying brand voice

Another project objective was to amplify the brand voice, conveying their culture architecturally. An origami-like portal stuns prospective hires and guests upon arrival. It frames Billtrust’s reception and multi-purpose game room beyond with its tournament grade table-tennis table (don’t call it ping-pong around these guys). It’s no coincidence this game room is located front and center, positioned in front of the similar sized boardroom. This is a design decision attributable to one of Billtrust’s thought provoking core-values, “We were not put on this planet to work and make money.” All eight core-values are featured throughout the space as custom designed mill-finish steel signage. As you circulate the challenging L-shaped floorplate, we took care to avoid the pitfall of creating two disconnected wings. A bicycle workshop, breakroom with a roll-up garage door, and fitness center complete with new showers reinforces how “It’s all about the people.” Listening to our client led us to specifying open ceilings, expansive glass, and vibrant color palette combined with natural textures – all elements with symbolic intent (ex. limitless, transparency, etc.). Our finishes consequently inspired Billtrust to rebrand with a new logo and corporate colors.

Billtrust has since engaged our studio for their 90,000sf World Headquarters in Hamilton, NJ.

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