Gensler redesigned Akridge’s workplace in DC, creating a contemporary house that pays homage to the constructing’s historical past, with natural patterns, architectural supplies, and elevated collaboration areas.
Gensler remodeled a dated and closed off house right into a vivid and open workplace for Akridge situated in Washington DC.
As one among Washington, D.C.’s longstanding builders, Akridge is a number one visionary in actual property who enriches communities by way of its considerate strategy to shaping cities. Situated within the Homer Constructing, one of many oldest and most elegant items of structure in downtown Washington, for greater than 30 years, Akridge determined to pursue an in-place renovation to introduce new methods of working whereas representing its values and course of. The ensuing house reveals a sublime push and pull between fashionable and conventional, providing a brand new perspective juxtaposed to the historic construction that serves as a testomony to Akridge’s stronghold within the District.
From the onset, Akridge labored collectively with Gensler to collaborate on a design for a contemporary office. Workshops with Akridge’s staff revealed that an necessary a part of the design strategy was to pay tribute to the structured grids of the Homer constructing, whereas concurrently contrasting it with natural varieties. Impressed by the willow oak timber that line the streets downtown, a fragile laser-cut patterned display covers the 30-foot wall behind the reception space. This assertion piece brings in natural motion and creates a robust first impression. As you enter the office, the sample is repeated by wrapping the columns alongside the central collaboration space that connects the workplaces.
The visible expertise of the house is enriched by lasting architectural supplies: wooden, concrete, glass, and metallic. Using these core supplies, expressed of their true type, encompasses Akridge’s strategy to not solely their very own house however lots of their iconic tasks within the metropolis.
With a transformative new format, the office design represents a development for Akridge. Lowering workplace sizes allowed for a achieve in collaboration areas, equivalent to a working cafe, espresso bar, and lounge. These central areas have led to improved engagement and cross-connection between Akridge’s growth, challenge administration, leasing, funding, and property administration groups, supporting worker socialization in addition to the general synergy of the enterprise.
Design: Gensler
Contractor: HITT Contracting
Furnishings Supplier: MOI
Pictures: Devon Banks