611 King Street Office Suite

Workplace design inevitably influences workplace culture. The workplaces of architects, whether designed by them or not, carry added significance because they inherently represent the architects’ values and abilities as designers. While the former suburban workplace of Lewis Group Architects (LGA) promoted a collaborative workplace environment through its open office format, it was neither right-sized for the current staff nor did it present an adequate picture of their team’s capacities, aptitudes, and design principles.  Subsequently, LGA made the conscious decision to relocate, renovating an existing building in a centralized, downtown location to better meet the firm’s needs and trajectory.

The new, more compact open workplace design doubles down on LGA’s commitment to a collaborative team culture while putting its studio and values on display – values like its commitment to the city’s downtown fabric and livelihood, its commitment to adaptive reuse, its demonstration of the firm’s stewardship of existing built resources, and its demonstration of the positive impact of good design, all while responsibly adhering to a set budget.

In the new office design for 611 King Street, LGA places the staff workstations – the Design Studio – front and center as the heart of the workplace. The Principals’ offices are contiguous with the Design Studio, promoting positive communication and an “all-hands-on-deck” environment. The new workplace increases the number of formal and informal meeting spaces with layout tables, pin up walls, video conferencing areas, and soft seating. Reinforcing the commitment to decreasing its footprint, the firm’s architecture and interiors libraries have been strategically reduced and integrated into the workspace. Despite the reduction in total area, the new workplace still has room for the firm’s future trajectory and potential growth.

Regarding the specific renovation work necessary to achieve these goals, a monumental stair to the mezzanine that effectively divided the space in half was removed from the center of the double-height studio.  Access to the mezzanine is now provided via a new stair at the space’s perimeter. Additionally, unobtrusive low walls were constructed to bank workstations and house power and data. Existing wood flooring, brick walls, and exposed beams and roof decking of the circa-1940s building were left in their pre-renovation state.