Project Details
- Project Name
- Baker and McKenzie
- Location
-
Chicago ,IL ,United States
- Project Types
- Commercial
- Project Scope
- Interiors
- Awards
- 2012 AIA - State/Regional Awards
- Shared by
- Annie Milewski
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
An international professional services firm relocation offered the opportunity to leverage state-of-the-art planning strategies with unique architectural characteristics towards enabling the firm's new integrated-service model.
The conference center features two-story volumes carved from the structural cross section - designed as light beams - creating dramatic reception/multipurpose rooms with electronic glass and breakout galleries.
Anchoring reception below a floating plaster-finished "box" of conference spaces, a water mirror defines circulation while classical philosophy's other elements of the world are referenced: air (views), earth (gardens) and fire (fireplace).
Elsewhere conference spaces feature double-glass frosted facades, acting as the acoustic equivalents of conventional partitions.
Staff floors utilize a pavilion planning parti. Service cores cluster interior offices and support functions. In between, the center pavilion showcases conference/workrooms. A cross corridor accesses city views, a staff cafe and media wall.
Office facades are clear, demountable glass assemblies with tinted glass workrooms allowing for writable surfaces within.
Atrium walls were removed, cross-bracing framed and new glass framing installed, providing new "perimeter" offices.
Scheduled for LEED-CI Gold accreditation, perhaps the most noteworthy example of environmental stewardship was the use of over one mile of clear glazing partitioning, maximizing views for all levels of staff.