Page 31 - ArchDC_Summer 2020

Lunch room. Photo © Tom Harris of Tom Harris Photography

the gym and fitness studio, also designed by ZGF. A bridge at Mary Yagi, the JBG SMITH vice president who worked
the mezzanine level allows circulation between offices and a with the interior design team, concurred: “Our former office
conference center. looked more like a law firm. While employees did come out of
The lobby offers living room-like seating that extends private offices [in the new space], everyone got more light and
visually to the restaurant/retail spaces. “Here we were trying to views and more than 12,000 square feet of amenity spaces.” She
blur the lines between retail and office lobby. It has a hospitality reported that employees no longer have to book a conference
vibe,” said Kristi Smith. room to meet, but instead have impromptu gatherings in a
huddle room, lounge, or café. “This setting is so much more
JBG SMITH Offices reflective of our culture.”
The company’s 400-plus headquarters staff occupies
The lobby stair leads to the second level where JBG SMITH’S the second through fifth floors of the office building. Here,
corporate reception and public areas are located. It is at this level the imposing “Showcase Stair,” as Leffelman terms it, takes
where the office tower and market building align and where the center stage as the principal organizing element of the interior
JBG SMITH offices extend into the market building to create one design. The open stair’s robust construction of wood, blackened
continuous double-height space. steel, and glass reinforces the functional industrial style of
Like many corporate leaders, the company was ready the space. Rather than stacking straight up to the fifth floor, it
to ditch the traditional corner office vs. worker-bee cubicle meanders through each level increasing flow as occupants move
arrangement in favor a more open, collaborative environment. through workspaces to reach the next flight of stairs. This foot
The company commissioned Partners by Design (PBD), a traffic helps create a more dynamic environment encouraging
Chicago-based interior design firm, to design the space. “Their spontaneous collisions and collaboration.
previous offices were very traditional, very buttoned up,” The office interior design fully embraces the neo-industrial
recalled PBD’s director of architectural design Buzz Leffelman, aesthetic of the renovated market building it partially occupies.
AIA. “The leadership really wanted us to create something The floor-to-ceiling windows overlook Woodmont Plaza and
modern and with lots of alternative workspaces.”

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