Project Description
– Architect Magazine recently highlighted Wingate Hughes Architects’ (WHA) inventive design, utilizing mostly plastics, at the Society for the Plastics Industry’s (SPI) 18,000 square-foot headquarters on K Street in Washington, DC. Gavin Bowie and Gavin Daniels’, co-principals at WHA, frequently pioneer projects with grand visions similar to SPI’s plastics design. WHA practices a philosophy to "defy convention," said Bowie. "We listen to our clients’ imaginative ideas and translate them into original and sustainable designs that are functional and, at times, fantastical." Bill Carteaux, CEO of SPI, wanted the space to virtually reflect the plastics industry from start to finish and show plastics’ endless possibilities. "With this space, understanding what the client’s goals were first was important. It starts with that relationship," said Daniels. "On the whole we decided that the right approach was to use the plastic as itself. No tricks. No clichés. The material … (this is how) we approached the design – to be true to the materials."