Design Director Sofia Juperius Named Crain’s 40 Under 40
This article is originally from Crain’s New York Business published on November 07, 2022.
Congratulations to Vocon New York’s Design Director Sofia Juperius on being named in Crain’s New York 2022 class of 40 Under 40! You and the rest of the fantastic honorees continue to inspire us!
Crain’s New York Business celebrates 40 young professionals under 40 who aren’t afraid of hard work and are paving the future of New York City. They are pioneering new ways to network and get around, breaking ground in fields from real estate to health care and entertainment to politics, as well as helping other entrepreneurs in their quest to find funding. Sofia stands out in more ways than one.
While living in Sweden, Sofia Juperius became a professional ski racer in her teens, schussing down hills. The terrain the interior designer navigates today is less dangerous but perhaps trickier: adding style and extras to office buildings so landlords can entice employees back to their desk.
Inspired by the amenities of luxury apartment buildings, Juperius takes lobbies and other potentially humdrum public areas and graces them with spas, plush lounges and members-only clubs. “How do we create an environment to make [people] want to show up for work and make them feel they’re going to miss out if they don’t?” she said.
Since joining Vocon in the summer of 2021 after a stint with Gensler, she has put her skills to the test at One Madison Avenue, a major redevelopment from SL Green Realty. It aims to dazzle with a tenants-only stone-topped bar. Although One Madison is not scheduled to open until 2024, there are signs its amenities might be advantageous. SL Green has bagged major tenants including Franklin Templeton and IBM.
Another current high-profile assignment is 51 West 52nd Street, the former CBS headquarters, where Juperius is leading an effort to reinvent a mailroom into a podcast studio and fitness center filled with rowing machines. “Sofia is innovative and proactive,” said William Vazquez, a manager with landlord Harbor Group International. “She has a passion for what she does.” In the past 18 months, she has worked on 12 repositioning projects across 163,000 square feet. In a similar span, she designed offices at properties owned by the Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Trust.
She might not be skiing much for a while—in September she and her husband had a son, their first child—but her work can provide its own kind of reward. “It may not be quite the same adrenaline rush,” she said, “but I’ll take it.”
