912 West Lake St., Chicago
9229 s.f. Office
Client: FitzGerald Associates Architects

The planning of any working space requires a careful assessment of the philosophy and functional needs of the end user. The analysis acknowledges that the layout of a space can dictate the interaction between staff and clients and, conversely, how a desired interaction can be planned by changing the physical constraints of the space.

FitzGerald Associates Architects is a firm that values teamwork, close project coordination, design integrity, and involvement throughout the entire process of a making a building; thus, the organization of the architectural office needed to allow for comfortable meetings with clients, easy accommodation of differently scaled meetings, internal design and code review by project teams, preparation of complex permit submittals, and in-house training seminars.

In addition to the generous office space, much of the FitzGerald Associates office was programmed to these types of interactive uses.

The office design reflects the firm's belief that architecture comes from using simple materials in a creative way. The building shell features 12-inch wood beams, purloins columns with exposed brick, sandblasted to a new finish.The private meeting rooms, each named after an important architect from Chicago's past, are articulated in aluminum storefront with rotated patterned glass. Bookcases, sample storage and individual work area bookcases were economically created in particle board with rubber-trimmed laminate tops by a local display firm.

Individual work stations feature Hafele adjustable bases, allowing employee customization of computer equipment locations at each work station.

Strong elements were proposed as a way of organizing the functional elements of the office. The open office layout featuring semiprivate work stations fosters learning for all levels of architects through both direct and observed interaction.

The work space is linked via a series of glass enclosed private meeting rooms tied by a continuous-wave wall overhead and serves to define a circulation element between the rooms and the filing area from the drafting room while concealing the mechanical system.

Drafting room privacy is obtained by a wall of glass, aluminum, and steel, allowing motion and activity to be visible to clients yet maintaining privacy in developing projects.

Support staff and principal offices occupy private offices adjacent to areas of client interaction.