Page 88 - AIA_Summer_2017

ArchDC Summer 2017.qxp_Summer 2017 5/24/17 10:53 AM Page 86

Interior of the building before conversion.
Courtesy of Lord, Aeck & Sargent

The units’ living/dining spaces can alternatively be
furnished as open-office seating, while their bedrooms can
instead be used as private offices and conference rooms.
The units have phone, data, and cable connections every
12 feet, and walk-in closets fitted with shelves and
additional phone and data outlets, so that they can be
used to house computer servers, printers, copiers, and
fax machines. Bathrooms are equipped with dual sinks
so that they can function more like office bathrooms, and
doors to bedrooms incorporate frosted-glass panels so
that some daylight can reach employees in private offices
and conference rooms.
“The [dual-sink bathrooms] are designed to be great
spaces for couples who live there, while also providing an
added value in an office setting,” Williams said.
“Additionally, the density of power outlets is comple-
mented with data outlets supported by a fiber optic feed
to each unit. This is a unique design feature that most
office buildings don’t provide.”
Each unit “is metered individually so that residents
and tenants can have individual ownership over their
uses,” Shin said. “Every room in the project, whether it is
an amenity room or the bathroom, had to be fit for either Flexible conference space at e-lofts.
residential use or commercial use. Programmatically and in
code compliance, the rooms were designed to be adaptable
and divisible between different users and programs.”
The building’s shared spaces were designed to support
both residential occupants and office workers, and
include a large lobby/event space, media presentation
rooms, and four conference rooms equipped with glass
whiteboards and collaboration tables. “Our team had to
take a deep dive into imagining how residents and tenants
would interact,” Shin said. “It allowed us to approach
amenity spaces in a whole new way by providing spaces
that were always fit for two types of uses. Beyond a typical
residential lounge where you may feel like you are
intruding on someone’s space if the room is preoccupied,
e-lofts spaces are designed to introduce conversation
with other neighbors and professionals.”
Adapting an existing building with a variety of unit
types, Williams said, created a challenge. “Where units
were similar in design, but differing in square footage
size, we incorporated design features that added value to
the larger units. In a perfect scenario, we would design
as few unit types as the design of the existing building
would allow.”

86 CONVERTIBLE LIVING Social kitchen space. Ph