Page 77 - ArchDC_Summer 2020

Development. The office floors of the base building, which was
Building lobby, with Urban Institute reception area behind.
designed by ZGF, have an unusual shape in plan—reminiscent
of an asymmetrical bow tie—that posed both challenges and
opportunities for the interior designers.
HYL’s solution was a hybrid layout in which most staff
members still have private offices—albeit smaller than
before—lining the perimeter of the building, combined with
a smattering of open workstations, complemented by an array
of collaborative meeting spaces. Some of these collaborative
spaces were positioned to take advantage of views toward the
bustling new District Wharf development on the other side of
the L’Enfant Promenade. Others occupy potentially awkward
but undeniably interesting little nooks at acute corners of the
bow-tie-shaped plan.
Taken alone, such design moves hardly seem radical, but
HYL had another, more transformational planning strategy up
its sleeve. Taking advantage of the fact that the new building
was not yet under construction when the interior design process
began, HYL approached the base building’s developer, JBG
SMITH, to negotiate a series of structural changes. Among these
changes was the provision of an open stairwell connecting all
seven office floors occupied by the Urban Institute.
“We came up with the idea of an interconnecting stair in
order to encourage staff interaction,” said Loke. “Then we went
a step further. We purposefully organized the different policy
centers around the stairs, and then deliberately split individual
centers between floors, even if they would fit on one. So there
are multiple centers per floor.”
To encourage staff members to use the stairs, HYL lined
them with bright, large-scale graphics depicting the urban
plans of some of the cities in which the institute has worked.
The color scheme for these murals, including a cheerful yellow
and a bright blue, is derived from the institute’s logo and
corporate graphic identity. To keep costs down, the graphics
were executed inexpensively using simple paint.
“During the first week of the multi-phase move-in,” recalled
Loke, “one of the policy center leaders who had been skeptical
of opening things up came up to me and said, ‘The past is
past. I have to say you’ve done a really good job and people
are really happy with the space.’ It was a big compliment.
She said it right in front of the stair, near the staff pantry area
overlooking the Wharf. A lot of teams were already starting to
use these spaces for meetings.”
One of the major advantages of the Urban Institute’s move
to the new building was the chance to create a welcoming
conference center that would facilitate collaboration with
outside organizations. The center occupies most of the
building’s main entry level, which is accessible by pedestrians
from the L’Enfant Promenade. In addition to a spacious
reception area/pre-function space, the facilities include a
theater with moveable seating and a large digital screen, a
mid-sized multi-purpose room, and several smaller meeting
or break-out spaces.
On this floor, once again, HYL worked with the base
building developer to modify structural elements so as to
accommodate the open spaces that the conference center would
require. Some columns were shifted, others were removed
entirely, restroom facilities were relocated and enlarged,
and soundproofing of the exterior wall next to the theater
STAIRWAY TO COLLABORATION 75