2024 Award Winners
Architectural Honor Awards / Building
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SmithGroup
TechSmith
"Clean and tightly programmed, this new office building adopts a holistic design approach. The integration of a public trail and a modular design for future adaptability result in an occupant-focused workplace."
~AIA Iowa Jury
CONCEPT STATEMENT: TechSmith’s new headquarters is a transformative space designed to enhance effectiveness, well-being, and collaboration. By consolidating operations under one roof, it creates a more effective work environment that fosters a sense of unity and purpose.
Recognizing the importance of individual flexibility in today's work culture, the design places a strong emphasis on providing highly optimized team and individual work areas. This is accomplished by incorporating hyper-focused individual spaces “smoffices” for individual work and “team pods” for groups of 4 to 8 working as teams. The “team pods” line the north exterior glass for glare free work. The “smoffices” line the perimeter corridor on the south with some spares in the center. The building form shifts to accommodate a large underground utility, allow for outdoor collaborative workspace, to form the entry canopy, and to hint at the walking “trail” on the interior. The interior “trail” spans two floors and is bound by open staircases and various amenities like a fitness space, game area, barista, and a large gathering communal space. Occupant well-being is a central theme in the building's design. Daylight permeates through social spaces, collaboration areas, and team workspaces, infusing each corner with natural light and energy.
DESIGN FOR INTEGRATION
The building integrates a double height space with a large roof monitor above for deeper daylight penetration. An interior walking “trail” spans two floors connecting building amenities and is bound by open communicating staircases with daylight from roof monitor glazing.
DESIGN FOR EQUITABLE COMMUNITIES
The location of the new TechSmith building creates synergy with Michigan State University’s main campus with a multimodal transportation hub between. The building is along a bike route with a bus stop directly accessible outside the building at the corner of Crecent and Harrison Road.
DESIGN FOR ECOSYSTEMS/DESIGN FOR WATER
Native vegetation landscape encourages biodiversity. Native and drought-tolerant plants allowed for 100% reduction in potable site water use, low-flow plumbing fixtures reduce indoor water use by 30% from baseline. Full cut off site lighting and a bioswale is implemented at the parking area.
DESIGN FOR ECONOMY/DESIGN FOR RESOURCES
Modular building planning, exposing building systems and eliminating ceilings where possible, all FSC wood, recycled materials and reduction of materials all contributed to a design focused on resources and economy.
DESIGN FOR WELL-BEING
The building shape promotes walking together as a social activity. An interior walking “trail” and open communicating stairs promote physical movement. The interior provides direct views of nature and includes biophilic elements such as indoor planters along the trail, at the communicating stairs, and main café. Advanced lighting allows control to tailor occupant comfort. Shared access to daylight drove the floor plan organization and was verified with calculations; 80% of occupied spaces have access to views of nature and the surrounding site.
DESIGN FOR ENERGY
The building has a south facing orientation and narrow floor plate to maximize effective daylighting while minimizing glare and heat gain. Highly efficient mechanical systems reduce energy consumption to 44% below ASHRAE baseline. Roof mounted photovoltaic array produces on-site power improving building resiliency and carbon footprint. Enhanced air filtration was utilized with a minimum MERV-13 rating.
DESIGN FOR CHANGE
As TechSmith saw growth and changing needs, the design implemented a low carbon approach to their work environment. The primary workspace is organized around an interchangeable module designed to evolve with TechSmith. 6’x10’ small offices (called smoffices) for individual focus work and 18’x24’ Team Pods for groups of 4 to 8 working as teams are constructed with demountable partition systems to allow future change.
DESIGN FOR DISCOVERY
The building encourages social interaction among colleagues with indoor/outdoor work environments and a variety of social spaces along the “trail”.
DESIGN FOR RESOURCES
All building materials were selected for durability and longevity. Environmentally conscious materials with third-party verification documentation are incorporated throughout. Low-emitting paints, coatings, flooring, ceilings were specified to protect occupant health.
Client: Michigan State University Foundation & TechSmith
General Contractor: The Christman Company
Mechanical Engineer: SmithGroup
Electrical Engineer: SmithGroup
Structural Engineer: SmithGroup
Landscape Architecture: Fishbeck
Civil Engineering: Fishbeck
Commissioning Agent: FST Technical Services
Data: Smart Building Services
Architectural Photographers: James Ewing, 517 Visuals -
SYNECDOCHE
HOMES Campus
"Embracing constraints as opportunities, this project utilized salvaged elements to literally create space. The use of honest materials, combined with focused interventions, results in a space that is truly transformed."
~AIA Iowa Jury
PROJECT STORY
To help grow the client’s expanding business, renovating three individual warehouses to form a shared complex allowed the client’s business to expand and new sectors to collaborate and grow.
While the client already used one of the warehouses for brewing production, the other two were previously a car detailer and a mechanic and required a change-of-use to create the campus. The vehicle circulation and parking in the area were also unacceptable for the business to succeed. In addition, the outdoor area between the warehouses was inaccessible for a fire lane and required maintenance.
Embracing these challenges, the design team worked with the municipality and Fire Department to gain a full site plan update and change-of-use approval that met the code and the client’s requirements. Design tactics addressed the code in alternative ways, such as moveable barricades to the fire lane to provide seating space that could be accessed in case of emergency. The team took the care to explain how the design met the code intent, but in configurations, the jurisdiction having authority thought was innovative and productive.
The project prioritizes connection through the formation of a community hub that invites users to participate in all the stages of brewing and beverage production. Expansive glass garage doors line the warehouse's walls to provide a visual story of the brewing process, from production to consumption. Within this lens, manufacturing is considered a social connector rather than a fringe use of civic activities.
Bright facade improvements and a lofted canopy structure make the warehouse campus iconic. The canopy structure’s exaggerated geometric steel frames, defining the roof's relief, form the campus's outdoor hearth. Informed hardscaping responds to the geometry to create seating, meeting, and community spaces between furniture, plantings, and re-purposed brewing equipment.
The design team embraced the warehouses’ fundamental elements by accentuating the structure, refinishing the concrete flooring, and multiplying many existing building details such as the use of overhead doors at all entry points to celebrate the reuse of the space.
Today, the design serves as a backdrop for artwork and creativity, as the business invites rotating local artists and sculptors to display and sell their work. The design team’s ongoing partnership with this art initiative collaborates with these artists and community partners to make their vision a reality.
Client: HOMES + Dozer
General Contractor: CCM-GC
MEP Engineer: GreenPath
Civil Engineer: Nederveld
Architectural Honor Awards / Conceptual
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INFORM Studio
Keating Channel Pedestrian Bridge: Nda-Nwendaaganag
"With a community-based design process, this project serves as a connector both literally and figuratively. Its focus on honoring the indigenous community and local ecology roots it in place and sets a standard for holistic design process."
~AIA Iowa Jury
PROJECT STORY
The Keating Channel Pedestrian Bridge will link the Quayside neighborhood and Toronto’s downtown to an expanded regional park system along the Don River and Villiers Island. It will contribute to the creation of a continuous and publicly accessible water’s edge along the Toronto waterfront and play a critical role in providing safe, direct, and equitable access across the Keating Channel.
Beyond providing an elevated path of travel across the water, the Keating Channel Pedestrian Bridge will also be a destination. It will carry users over the channel while also offering places to stop, rest, gather, interact and enjoy the view.
The Keating Channel Pedestrian Bridge project is a partnership between Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto, in collaboration with Host Nation and Treaty Holder, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
Through the humble efforts of our team, we have learned to embrace the concept of a ‘living bridge’ designed for Nda-nwendaaganag (meaning ‘All My Relations’ in Anishinaabemowin).
Through early Indigenous engagement influences, it was important that the project orientation responded to the four cardinal directions, East, South, West, North. The resulting alignments of critical directions and topographical manipulations coalesced into an organic shape that emulates the Deer’s antler. This began our journey into the ‘living bridge’, and our understanding of the changes and storytelling of life. We honor all aspects of change in life—day to night, cycle of the moon and the seasons of the year. We honor the sources of life including water and fire.
Our collaborative design proposes interactive and self-guided experiences to appreciate spectacular views integrated within a natural landscape encouraging visitors to learn about the Anishinaabe Ways of Knowing and Being.
Our design incorporates all of the project goals listed here:
1. Create A Beautiful And Distinctive Gateway To The Waterfront (Design for Integration)
Becoming a landmark and a destination on the waterfront and complementing the existing Port Lands bridges.
2. Connect The City And Villiers Island (Design for Integration; Design for Equitable Communities; Design for Wellness)
Connecting Quayside to an expanded regional park system along the Don River by providing safe, direct, and equitable access across the Keating Channel.
3. Incorporate A Living Landscape (Design for Ecology; Design for Water)
Celebrating our connections with land and water by integrating nature in the design and offering opportunities for biodiversity.
4. Create With Indigenous Voice And Agency (Design for Equitable Communities; Design for Discovery)
Contributing to the visibility and overall wellbeing of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in Toronto through Place-making and Place-keeping and honoring Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
5. Embody Sustainable Strategies And Innovation (Design for Ecology; Design for Resources; Design for Energy; Design for Economy)
Symbolizing, representing, and celebrating sustainability, climate resiliency and green infrastructure, extending to cost efficiency, life-cycle analysis, constructibility, durability, and maintainability, to the extent possible.
6. Create A Place For All People (Design for Equitable Communities; Design for Wellness; Design for Discovery)
Offering unique, inclusive experiences of transition, interaction, observation, comfort, discovery, sensation, safety, and access to all users.
Our team worked early on in the design process with a local accessibility consulting company to integrate Universal Design into the entire project.
The project will encourage healthy lifestyles in that it will connect people with the river rather than having the city turn its back to the river. There will be seating and walking/biking areas that are inclusive to all.
Client: Waterfront Toronto, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation
Civil & Geotechnical Engineering: EXP
Structurial Engineering, Sustainability & Lighting Design: Buro Happold
Landscape Architecture, Indigenous Community Engagement & Artist: SpruceLab
First Nations Consultation & Ecology: Four Directions
Accessibility: Handihelp
Signage & Wayfinding: Design de Plume
Cost Management: Hanscomb
Renderings: Design Distill, Future Landscapes -
other work
Community-led Aging-in-Place Framework Plan
"This neighborhood-centric design approach draws inspiration from its surroundings to create appropriately scaled and well-organized resources for an aging population. The project effectively balances social considerations with environmental factors, resulting in a model for a healthy community."
~AIA Iowa Jury
PROJECT STORY
Situated in a single-family neighborhood adjacent to 78 acres of woodlands and recreational fields are 6.4 acres of vacant land that once belonged to a former school in Detroit. Through an extensive, four-part community engagement effort, this land has been reimagined to accommodate 55 residences, a Tech and Retail Hub, community pavilion, and distributed parks. The spaces are organized to blend access to the woodlands, while the homes along the street edge blend in with the single-story neighborhood.
Repurposing a site that was once a beacon for neighborhood stabilization presented an opportunity to heal public space by acknowledging the significance of that land and the buildings that were once there. Harm occurred through the erasure of culture and history caused by disinvestment, long-term lack of equity, and systemic economic exclusion. The folks in the neighborhood are legacy residents who have and will continue to age-in-place with their families. Hence, we held four design workshops at the local neighborhood association in order to establish trust and gather authentic perspectives, stories, desires, and concerns.
The first workshop introduced the project, presented zoning and housing design considerations, led a collage-making workshop, and held a word game. This informed three site design concepts that explored a variety of layouts, housing typologies, and massing approaches. The second workshop presented these and held a series of break-out groups, surveys, and rankings. Enough feedback was gathered to distill the design into two architectural and site concepts, which were presented at the third workshop, leading to the final design through consensus and consent. At each workshop, we summarized the prior take-aways and how the feedback informed the design. Building trust allowed the design to evolve through local culture, expertise, and aspirations, and it gave the design team credibility to advocate for climate justice and the healing of space.
For the residents, equitable design meant walkability, connection to nature and neighbors, intergenerational activities, and innovative sustainability. They desired a wide range of living options to balance a sense of security with privacy and hominess. For this reason, the design deploys the use of dispersed, landscaped courtyards along the street, creating micro-communities made up of 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom homes. These single-family and duplex homes encircle a courtyard and can be accessed via a permeable-paved street, which also serves the multi-family buildings along the park’s edge. The combination provides various household dynamics while maintaining lower costs. Entrepreneurs and local business owners from the perimeters of the neighborhood are brought into the neighborhood center, located at the street corner of the site. This collection of diverse, community-oriented typologies and their arrangement prioritize equitable and safe access to amenities, nature, walkability, and connectivity.
An outstanding aspect of the site is the 78 acres of woodlands and recreation directly adjacent. The site serves as a conduit to this rare, ecological amenity in Detroit. We positioned the residential units along a nature walk and healing garden, which leads into woodlands. This brings together the residents on the site with the residents all around the woodlands to walk the trails. The nature trail is a buffer to protect the existing flora and fauna during the building construction. Additional trees along the boundaries of the site create a protective shading canopy, screen noise, and support songbirds.
The homes are built on raised slabs to address frequent flooding, allowing the elderly residents to access storage and utilities without relying on basements. Covered porches connect homes across courtyards, where bioswales, rain gardens, native plants, and trees absorb stormwater. A variety of ecological environments are programmed to support healthy lifestyles and wellness. These include dog parks, community gardens, quiet spaces, and courtyard gatherings.
Aging-in-place means risking one’s sense of personal autonomy, privacy, territory, and personalization. Simultaneously, comfort and health is having easy access to neighbors in the event of an emergency, which can occur in a variety of ways for the aging population. The design responds to this concern by providing visual and audible access among neighbors through the shared porch and courtyard. This led to rethinking the fence by deploying nature and screening that allows visibility. The covered porch supports a sliding screen, which conveys the highest level of security and privacy, while expressing shared agency. Resident engagement, neighborly interaction, utilization of personal home security, well cared for public spaces & dignified communal living uplifts the collective humanity of neighborhoods. The design provides a flexible version of single-family housing that is connected through the courtyard and blended with duplexes, departing from the single-family uniformity in a spatial way.
Client: O'Hair Park Community Association
Design & Community Engagement Partner: Izzie, LLC
Architectural Honor Awards / Historic Rehabilitation
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Gensler
Ford Book Depository
"This adaptive reuse project honors the original building with a light yet truly transformative touch. The main atrium creates an excellent third space, using natural light as a compelling organizing element. Expertly executed."
~AIA Iowa Jury
PROJECT STORY
As a longtime landmark in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, the Albert Kahn-designed Book Depository is now a beacon of transformation and innovation within Michigan Central’s larger campus. Guided by a vision of creating a resilient, inclusive workplace for emerging innovation companies, designers, and technologists, the design took on the ambitious task of reimagining the abandoned, historic building with bold architectural interventions that support a vibrant hub for technological advancement and community engagement. With careful blend of preservation and modernization, the design honors the past while looking forward, paving the way for innovation through connectivity between people and ideas.
The reimagined Book Depository is testament to the power of architecture to shape spaces and communities. Embracing principles of equitable communities, change, discovery, wellness, and economy, the building transcends renovation, symbolizing a bold step towards a more inclusive and resilient urban landscape. With doors open to innovators, dreamers, and changemakers, the Book Depository is a space where boundaries between past and present blur, and seeds of progress are sown into the fabric of collaboration and imagination.
Design for Change:
Resilience lies in the building design’s adaptability to future uses and changing markets. Embracing a human centered environment rather than its historic use of book storage inherently changed the building’s story. Decentralized cores and flexibility across expansive floorplates optimize convertibility, breaking down boundaries, moving away from enclosed tenancies and siloed workplaces, encouraging collaboration between businesses. Restrooms were designed to easily convert from male/female to gender neutral facilities with a simple wall removal. With advanced technology industries at the core of the building's innovative businesses, generous circulation was prioritized to allow for people, robots, and machines to navigate together, side by side, or through full-height atrium and stairwells.
Design for Discovery:
Extensive partnerships with automotive and technology companies provided invaluable lessons. The Book Depository became the first of its kind where traditionally divergent programs like workplace, prototyping, and maker spaces are now adjacent to one another. As the building’s workplace was being rewritten, so was its adaptive reuse. Like previous historic renovations, an homage to the building’s character and materiality was maintained. Modern interventions were implemented using the same ethos for constructability, including the strength of structure in masonry and steel, and re-using existing elements for a new purpose, like the loading docks becoming a paseo. Preserving the building's historic infrastructure while finding solutions for a new use reflects a commitment to Detroit and its creative legacy, now and in the future. Integration of advanced technologies and maker spaces underscores a commitment to research and development, ensuring that the building and Detroit remains at the forefront of innovation.
Design for Equitable Communities:
The design fosters collaboration among diverse users, as global communities of innovators and entrepreneurs engage with local communities within Corktown, adjacent neighborhoods, and metro suburbs Dearborn and Ann Arbor that sit along the future Mobility Mile. Foundational elements within the design include the “right to light” with ample daylight and connectivity at the central atrium, blurred boundaries with the outdoors at ground floor paseo and rooftop, a wellness center, “comfort beyond code” gender-neutral facilities, and generous circulation accessibility.
The Book Depository contributes to the local community by hiring from the surrounding neighborhoods, supporting a synergistic ecosystem. Part of the larger Michigan Central development, it’s the first building focused on people and interconnectedness of the site, surrounded by green space and plazas. The building’s layout creates an internal boulevard connecting major elements within and beyond the walkable campus including a residential neighborhood, an elevated historic railway, the train station, Roosevelt Park, and Michigan Avenue connecting to innovation campuses beyond.
Design for Wellness:
The design prioritizes occupant health and comfort by maximizing access to natural light and the outdoors, a balanced workplace, and creating inviting spaces that promote well-being. The full building-height central atrium floods the interior with daylight, creating a welcoming environment that fosters visibility and connectivity. Enhanced amenities include grab-and-go market, cafés, quiet zones, rooftop access, walking paths, a wellness center with bike storage, showers, meditation and prayer rooms, and shared resource hubs that promote greater mobility and engagement, enhancing the overall wellness of the community.
Design for Economy:
Saving the building and utilizing the existing infrastructure optimized resources and minimized waste, while providing high impact innovation space. Flexible floor plates and activated circulation paths maximize space utilization, ensuring the project delivers value while remaining economically sustainable for both the community and its stakeholders. Harnessing local talent, the construction teams and others involved with the project were from Corktown and nearby neighborhoods.
Client: Ford Motor Company
General Contractor: Barton Malow
Interior Designer: Civilian
Interior Designer of Record: Ghafari
Civil Engineer: Giffels-Webster Engineers, Inc
Structural Engineer: IMEG
MEP Consultant: IMEG
Lighting Consultant: IMEG
Technology Consultant: IBI Group
Consultant: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc
Architectural Photographer: Angie McMonigal, Jason Keen -
Peterson Rich Office
The Shepherd
"This project honors the historic fabric while drawing inspiration from the existing structure for the new elements. The craftsmanship and precise refinement of this historic adaptive reuse are evident, highlighting the essential features while delicately integrating the new program."
~AIA Iowa Jury
PROJECT STORY
A historic former Catholic church in the East Village neighborhood of Detroit has been transformed into a new cultural arts center for exhibitions, public projects, and performance. Located in a residential area which has been subject to decades of population decline, The Shepherd expands the operations of Library Street Collective, one of Detroit’s leading art galleries. Part of a 3.75 acres master plan, The Shepherd is the first phase in Library Street Collective’s creation of a new arts campus, and will be an anchoring institution for the neighborhood, echoing the role the church once played as a space for community gathering. Building upon Library Street Collective’s past success in activating neglected public spaces in Detroit with art, The Shepherd symbolizes a bold step towards fostering a diverse, human-scaled, inclusive, and socially equitable community.
Originally built in 1912, the Good Shepherd Church ceased operations in 2016. As a notable architectural landmark within the neighborhood, the church presented a unique opportunity for revitalization amidst its surroundings—a landscape marred by the degradation of abandoned buildings and inactive greenspace. The design goal sought to transform the former religious institution into a dynamic cultural hub, rooted in the arts.
The exterior of the building remains largely unchanged. The existing facade has been preserved and subtly enhanced through the introduction of a thin, illuminated metal shroud around the central arched door that delineates a new entrance and signals the building’s new function. By preserving the original masonry construction, the project optimized thermal efficiency through traditional construction methods and materials, thereby minimizing the need for new HVAC systems. Embracing passive design strategies improved the building performance by achieving more with less and ensured resiliency for the future, as the building itself can regulate temperature fluctuations. These considerations help to promote human health and comfort, fostering a welcoming environment for all who engage with the space.
Inside, the interior was stripped back to remove the ritual elements of the congregation, while leaving the essential forms of the building intact. From here, the new architecture rescripts the visitors’ experience through the primary architectural gesture of inserting two art gallery volumes—the first in the central nave and the second in the adjacent transept—in the space. Above the central gallery a mezzanine level has been introduced, allowing visitors to walk within the barrel-vaulted ceiling and providing opportunities for additional programing. The central crossing and apse have been left open to create space for live performances and larger installations. The other transept houses the East Village Arts Library, a branch of the Black Art Library which includes artist monographs, exhibition catalogs, children’s books, and rare research materials centered around Black artists and movements. For this space, the design team introduced new stone bookshelves and repurposed the existing church confessionals into multimedia listening booths for the public to enjoy audio and video materials related to the archive.
The design strategy focused on subtly highlighting the relationship between the old and the new. New elements are designed to selectively reflect and reframe existing ones, without imitating them. The team studied the materials and forms of the existing interior, introducing a related palette into their interventions through a contemporary design language. A new arch-shaped rounded steel staircase rises in front of one of the original stained-glass windows. The stair is clearly contemporary in its materials, construction, and detailing, but has a formal resonance with the existing arches throughout the building. Similarly, the main gallery in the nave creates an axis from the entry point to the altar, framing this once elemental feature of the former religious building. Openings in the ceiling of the main gallery and in the secondary gallery highlight other preserved decorative elements of the original church. The galleries, finished in a textured plaster blend with, but also differentiate from the original walls, reflecting their context in both elevation and plan. A band of metal wraps around the top of the galleries, continuing the datum line of the surrounding ornate cornicing, similar in material and tone, but read as something different. In plan, the corners of the galleries invert away from existing columns, a playful gesture toward the existing architecture. The new additions establish a harmonious dialogue with the original structure. This historical rehabilitation exemplifies sustainable architectural practice, fostering a diverse and socially equitable community through thoughtful preservation and innovative programming within the church’s revitalized space.
Client: Library Street Collective
General Contractor: CIR Group
Engineer: Silam Solutions
Landscape Architects: OSD
MEP Engineer: Salas O'Brien
Business Representation: Above the Fold
Architectural Photographer: Jason Keen
Architectural Honor Awards / Interiors
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Tryba Architects
BCG Detroit
"This project demonstrates a well-rounded design approach with a clear and strong program placement. The thoughtful consideration of environmental factors and place-based relationships is evident and admirable, particularly through the choice of materials, focus on comfort, and overall use. This is especially notable for an interior fit-out on a second floor."
~AIA Iowa Jury
PROJECT STORY
Amidst the inspiring revival of Detroit’s urban corridor, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) chose to relocate their Michigan office from Troy to Detroit—contributing to the city’s goal of reactivating downtown.
BCG selected the second floor of a newly-constructed office building on Woodward Avenue, overlooking the plaza of Little Caesar’s Arena. From project conception, the design team sought to capitalize on the exceptional location with a design approach that maximizes surrounding views and the vibrant energy of the adjacent plaza. BCG’s Reception and Work Lounge Café are positioned on the south side in response to ample sunlight and plaza activity below, enlivening these social areas. The north side faces a tranquil garden courtyard, providing a restorative setting for collaborative team rooms and contemplative open workstation zones. Throughout the office, foliage softens Michigan’s grey winters with cheerful bursts of greenery.
A multitude of workstyle settings and amenities to respond to today’s ever-changing workplace environment and the company’s mobile desking strategy. The Garden Room offers quiet respite with immersive views from the projecting bay window out to the neighboring courtyard, while a Game Room highlights the city’s enthusiastic sports, music and arts culture to provide a relaxed space for breaks and informal gatherings. Colors, textures and materiality throughout the suite are inspired by Detroit’s industrial heritage and the spirit of the city, including Michigan-inspired walnut tones and polished concrete floors. Dark neutrals are juxtaposed with greenery and the abundant natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows. Wayfinding and placemaking intersect, with meeting rooms and flex offices named for Michigan cities and lakes. Artwork in every room highlights the Michigan landmark after which the room is named.
The Detroit office sets a new paradigm for BCG’s corporate standards – establishing a new, forward-thinking workplace that mirrors the company’s values while creating a genuine experience that reflects the local culture.
Design for Equitable Communities:
BCG’s firm commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is boldly stated in their new space. Staff at all levels share in open desking, instead of assigned workspaces or closed offices, allowing employees the freedom to move around and choose their work location. Circular meeting tables break down hierarchies, eliminating the ‘head of the table’ and giving equal voices to all. Signage and graphics are designed for accessibility and clarity, while circulation throughout the office is intuitive and predictable even for visitors unfamiliar with the space. Genderless restrooms and showers, along with private rooms for nursing mothers, provide safe and welcoming accommodations for all.
The global consulting firm sought not only a vibrant office space for their staff, but also an accessible space for use by the broader community. BCG partnered with local artists to create the artwork and graphics displayed in the office, then went a step further to create event space to host local art programs, openings and lectures.
Design for Wellness:
The health and well-being of all employees and guests—and the planet—was of paramount importance to BCG in their new space. Abundant greenery provides connections with nature while regulating humidity and air quality. To reduce hazardous emissions and preserve the health of employees, natural materials—stone, wood, leather, and woven fibers—were chosen in lieu of synthetics and chemical-derivative finishes.
The programming promotes wellness and movement throughout the day. The second-floor location was deliberately chosen to encourage stair use and to bring employees closer to the activated plaza. Within the office, mobile workstations allow employees to transition throughout the spaces—perhaps choosing to work in the café in the morning, for example, then moving to the quiet space on the north side as the afternoon sunlight intensifies, or enjoy the comfort of the fireplace on a cold winter day.
Design for Change:
The project was in early design phases when the pandemic radically shifted the paradigm toward remote work. Maintaining the design schedule throughout, the designers worked to incorporate elements that would eventually bring employees back to the office. Close collaboration with the client throughout the process ensured the project mirrored the company’s values and celebrated their new location in the heart of Detroit. Design and FFE presentations were held virtually with an enhanced 3D model to improve visualization. Flexible workspaces were designed to accommodate a variety of workstyles, from quiet individual focus to virtual meetings to dynamic in-person collaboration. A comfortable kitchen and café, Garden Room with fireplace, and energized Game Room were designed to offer the comfort and flexibility associated with work-from-home, combined with the socialization and interaction of the office.
Client: BCG
General Contractor: Oliver/Hatcher Construction
Architectural Photographer: Eric Laignel
Architectural Honor Awards / Small Project
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END Studio LLC
Lowertown
"This project exemplifies doing a lot with a little, transforming a small, forgotten building through material reuse, local craftsmanship, natural light, and a pop of color. It demonstrates a smart and efficient approach to design."
~AIA Iowa Jury
PROJECT STORY
Lowertown is the adaptive reuse of an old service station and barbershop into an industrial-chic bar, café, and beer garden in Ann Arbor’s Lowertown neighborhood. Though the building is modest, the design collages quotidian elements from its historic aesthetics into new form. Bold color blocking, crisp lines, and bright powder coated fixtures create a playful vintage garage-inspired aesthetic. Maple millwork, inspired by the barbershop’s wood paneling and channel-tufted upholstery with a radiused corner, brings a warm tactile touch to the space. Lush plants and a monolithic terrazzo bar riffing off the concrete floor strike a balance between utilitarian and inviting. The parking lot is reinvigorated as a courtyard with pergola - coming soon - with walk-up service through a flip up window in one of the old garage door openings.
To foster equitable communities, Lowertown completes the historic service station’s transformation from a building for cars to a space for people. The redevelopment promotes walkability along the historic main street and highlights alternative transportation with a bright orange 19-bike rack out front. Utilizing Ann Arbor’s recent zoning amendment to remove parking minimums, the lot at Lowertown is reimagined as a beer garden, surrounded by warm cedar fencing and full of plants, fire pits, tables, and chairs. The planter sitting atop the old gas island –pumps long gone – is restored, and a bench coupled with Adirondack chairs and tables is added alongside providing public-facing street furniture at the intersection. Replacing the old garage doors, a large storefront opening provides natural light and entry into the bar and café, and a flip-up window at the bar allows customers to place walkup orders. The walkup window also provides resilience for the business in the event a pandemic or similar situation ever necessitates an adaptable outdoor service model. Single user, gender neutral restrooms promote inclusivity down to the last detail. Each aspect of the design comes together to be welcoming and enjoyable to all demographics – from college students to retirees, neighbors to visitors needing a refreshment after kayaking down the river, and people from all walks of life.
As an adaptive reuse, Lowertown takes the first step towards design for resources by making the most of the materials that are already there. To preserve a slice of Ann Arbor history in the face of large-scale developments across the street, various surgical and structural interventions were made to ensure its longevity. The front wall was reconstructed on new footings due to foundation issues, flowable fill was used to account for settling soils causing under-slab voids, sewer lines were excavated and repaired, and the roof was reinforced for current loads. In new material selections, sustainable sourcing, interior environmental quality, and durability were key. The Corian Quartz terrazzo countertops are low maintenance and low-VOC, and the Stinson vinyl upholstery is stain and abrasion resistant, phthalate-free, and GREENGUARD Gold Certified. The booths, shelves, and tables built by local millworks are naturally renewable maple plywood. The dining chairs and exterior lounge furniture are secondhand vintage.
Focusing on economy, the design works to maximize functionality in a small space. Split into two halves, the layout keeps the garage wide open and customer-facing, while back of house programming tessellates into the barbershop side. The millwork includes creative storage solutions and multi-use elements – the bar transitions seamlessly from daytime coffee to nighttime cocktails, the fixings station is topped with a merch shelf, and hidden storage is concealed below flip-up bench seats. The courtyard more than doubles the capacity, useable across seasons and weather with a soon-to-come pergola for rain protection and shade and fire pits for warmth. Minimal material touches create a refined aesthetic, while allowing the existing industrial character to sing. Focusing the tactile features – wood, upholstery, terrazzo – at the space of human interface allows the design to do more with less.
Water management is addressed by collecting rooftop storm water in rain barrels, used to water planters and landscaping beds. No impervious area was added to the site, and the existing landscaped areas and planter boxes have been planted with water-wise ornamental grasses.
All LED lighting and ample natural light through the storefront in the former garage doors, large windows facing the courtyard, and two new skylights promote energy efficiency. Above deck roof insulation was added, and the exposed concrete block walls were insulated with a core-fill foam for greater efficiency and interior comfort.
Client: Lowertown Proper LLC
General Contractor: Phoenix Contractors, Inc
Structural Engineer: Metropolitan Structural Engineers & Associates
Food Service Design: Great Lakes Culinary Design
Architectural Photographer: Jason Keen
