Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison

Project Statement

Having completed the successful relocation of this client’s office in 2008, our team was their first choice to assist with site selection and transition to another building for this new office location.

The design’s vision was developed as the law firm itself transitioned from a more conventional, buttoned-up culture to a welcoming work environment with comfortable workspaces and hospitality-style amenities for current employees and new recruits. The sleek, white office space is softened with natural wood accents, textured wall coverings, and curved doorways. Key art pieces, initially featured in their original office, were incorporated into the new space, helping to usher in a new era while celebrating the firm’s rich history.

Prior to our team being brought on as the design partner, the client worked with a third-party company to establish a workplace strategy that reduced square footage based on a hybrid work model. After much debate, firm leadership felt that their overall culture and employee productivity was better maintained with in-office representation. Given the original hybrid work model, our team was able to work within the constraints of the limited square footage through measured, efficient space planning and designs featuring work environments that serve dual purposes. The multi-purpose space opens up into a large break room to host meeting with more than sixty (60) guests. Since the building’s amenity floor features a wellness / massage room, treadmill space, and showers, similar redundant assets were eliminated from the client’s primary floorplan.

The client hoped the entire workspace could fit onto one floor, but after collaborating with the client to determine the best building to meet all of their needs and expectations, the final design was spread between two floors, with a premium value placed on shared spaces.

Another challenge was ensuring alignment from all design committee members and firm partners on program requirements and potential adjacencies, despite a wide range of diverse opinions. There was an even divide between partners who wanted the office to remain traditional in appearance, versus those that hoped for a more modern space. Our final design carefully marries the two opposing aesthetics with a simple layout featuring classic colors and the client’s original art collection, supplements with understated, sleek, modern furniture and fixtures and clever, updated lighting design.

Framework for Design Excellence Narrative

 _Design for Discovery - In collaboration with the operator, the concept and design were concurrently developed, making for a synonymous response of a design solution, instead of a reaction to a design problem. The office’s experiential approach, and sophisticated design, is an intentional response to the adage, “surprise and delight.”_