Page 48 - Fall_2017

ArchDC Fall 2017.qxp_Fall 2017 8/10/17 1:07 PM Page 46

The site before renovation.

Window wall of the atrium.

Dusk view of the renovated building
with the main entrance at left center.

Another lemonade-from-lemons effort in the atrium
is evident in the stairs and elevators. The floor levels of the
warehouses didn’t align, but modern sensibilities (not to
mention the Americans with Disabilities Act) demanded
universally accessible spaces. Meanwhile, in seeking
LEED Silver certification, the architects sought credit
under the heading of “Design for Active Occupants,”
which rewards building designs that encourage physical
activity (such as climbing stairs) and social interactions
among the building’s occupants. So it is that the stairs,
elevator, and ramps that lend visual animation to the
atrium also ensure accessibility and hold promise to
improve the physical and social health of tenants.
“When I think of how little of the construction of a
normal office building is actually visible, and virtually all
of it is here, I am almost overwhelmed,” wrote McInturff
of Greencourt. One aspect of loft style buildings, in which
structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire control
systems are exposed, is that it is almost impossible to
maintain compositional control over all those service
elements. As a result, most loft or industrial style interiors
Corridor in the Greencourt include unplanned tangles of pipes, conduits, raceways,
Innovation Center.

46 HOME IS WHERE THE INNOVATION IS