Story

A 7-acre parcel located in a rural area on the outskirts of Grand Rapids was the site for this 15,000 square foot regional headquarters building. The objective of this project was to consolidate a number of remote office locations dispersed throughout the region. The building envelope is a simple, cost-effective load bearing masonry structure with a single row of steel columns down the central axis. The exterior masonry is a natural split-face unit. A warm colored burnish block with radius rowlock banding highlights the main building entrance. The design concept was to create small boxes within the big box shell. To fill the interior with daylight and provide views of the surrounding landscape, the hard wall spaces are pulled to the building core. This provides ample visibility to the outdoors for staff while at the same time allowing the natural light to penetrate well into the interior. Circulation walkways are created by ganging or separating the boxes and are highlighted with richly colored stained concrete floors. "I appreciate the leadership and cooperation you gave the rest of the team! Employees and customers are enjoying the layout, design, openness, natural light, and beauty of the surroundings. You captured our thoughts and designed a building that reflected those ideas. Thanks for listening." Robert Meredith (State Manager)