Corporate headquarters as physical embodiments of organisational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the interdependency of corporate architecture and organisation cultural change. Corporate headquarters have become symbols of corporate change ambitions to endure cultural value sets. The paper seeks to contribute to the growing interest in the re‐materialization of organisational change.Design/methodology/approach – The study of spatial setting give rise to new methodological questions. There is a hermeneutic relationship between elements of spatial design and the meaning‐making of their designers and users. The reading of built space and other physical arrangements requires interpretative methods. Methods such as interviewing, observation and participant observation have been used to study three headquarter buildings of a Dutch telecom operator in a longitudinal study (1995‐2007).Findings – It is argued in the paper that the organisation's spatial position in relation to the Dutch Government buildings is a reflection of the privatisation process. During ...