Law and Order

Jorge S. Arango -- Interior Design, 5/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Imagine an analyst treating someone with multiple-personality disorder, and you'll begin to fathom Studios Architecture's design of a Washington, D.C., office building for its main tenant Venable law firm. The architects created a single commercial complex by combining a 223,000-square-foot new structure with a landmark former department store—itself, the product of merged row houses.

While reconciling these disparate structural personalities into one entity, project designer Jason deChambeau also saw a chance to update his 100-year-old client's brand image. "The firm needed an interior that's stable and professional, but not just the traditional leather chairs and crown moldings," he says.

Venable occupies many spaces spread throughout the complex. Its circulation paths, work areas, and public spaces needed to appear connected, despite any physical distance or retail tenants that pop up in between them. Studios' unifying design is neatly represented on six levels of the former department store.

A street-level lobby announces the firm's huge presence. From there, you either head straight up to lawyers' offices on floors five through seven by private elevator, or take the stairs down to IT, human resources, and marketing on the basement level. "The interiors needed to have a cohesiveness in what could have come off as extremely disjunctive space," deChambeau says.

Constructing a transitional mezzanine between the lobby and basement bridged an awkward space where the floor in the old department store didn't match up with one in the new building. On upper levels, architects connected the old floors with new portions by creating ramps and stairs.

For aesthetic continuity, the lobby's focal point reappears upstairs in the firm's eighth-floor reception area: Both feature floating beige Venetian-plaster panels framing Poul Hennigson's stainless-steel Artichoke pendant fixture. The lobby's glass balustrade announces the stairwell that descends past the mezzanine to the basement.

Eighth-floor reception offers access to meeting facilities. One level below, partners and associates enjoy north-, west-, and south-facing windowed offices a the perimeter. These work spaces have clerestory windows that filter daylight to the secretarial pool's workstations. Quarter-sawn etimoe wood forms the latter's cubicles, topped by etched-glass partitions for a hint of privacy.

The crowning effort at unifying the sprawled staff are the rooftop dining area and multipurpose room that open onto a terrace with teak patio furniture, landscaping, and a bocce court. "It sends a message that we're a happy and cohesive firm," says Venable managing partner William Coston. Call it an architect's version of conflict-resolution.

Previous spread: In Studios Architecture's Washington, D.C., office building for Venable, eighth-floor reception offers a scaled-down version of the ground-floor lobby's motif; both feature floating Venetian plaster walls and Poul Hennigson's iconic pendants.

Above: Architects created this mezzanine to compensate for uneven floor plates when the new construction was combined with the old building. Below from left: Stairs in the main lobby lead to the mezzanine. A glass wall screens attorneys' offices from an elevator bank.

Above: Etimoe wood cubicles contain the secretarial pool. Top: Shoji-style partitions in the basement IT department can be reconfigured to suit changing staff size. Middle: The rooftop terrace has furniture for outdoor dining and a bocce court. Bottom: This multipurpose room, paneled in sapele wood, opens onto the roof.

CUSTOM PENDANT FIXTURE (RECEPTION, LOBBY): LOUIS POULSEN LIGHTING. WALL FINISH (RECEPTION, LOBBY): ART IN CONSTRUCTION. CHAIR (RECEPTION): COACH. METALWORK (MEZZANINE): SUPERIOR IRON WORKS. LOUNGE CHAIRS (MEZZANINE), WORKSTATIONS (BASEMENT), TASK CHAIRS (CONFERENCE ROOM): KNOLL. LIGHTING (LOBBY): BELFER. FLOOR INSTALLATION: LORTON CONTRACTING COMPANY. BALUSTRADE (LOBBY), GLAZING (ELEVATOR BANK): TSI EXTERIOR WALL SYSTEMS. LIGHTING (ELEVATOR BANK): SPECIALTY LIGHTING INDUSTRIES. WORKSTATION PANELING (SECRETARIAL POOL): CROWN HARDWOOD VENEER CORP. CEILING: USG CORPORATION; ARMSTRONG (DROPPED). COUNTERTOP: BOATMAN AND MAGNANI. MILLWORK: JEFFERSON MILLWORK DESIGN. LAMINATE: NEVAMAR. CARPETING (SECRETARIAL POOL, CONFERENCE ROOM): CONSTANTINE COMMERCIAL. LIGHTING (BASEMENT): PEERLESS LIGHTING. TILE (TERRACE): SUNNY BROOK PRESSED CONCRETE COMPANY. BOCCE COURT LIGHTING: BEGA. CUSTOM PLANTER: BORDER CONCEPTS. TABLES, CHAIRS: SMITH HAWKEN. TABLES (CONFERENCE ROOM): WILKHAHN. LIGHTING: CREATIVE LIGHT SOURCE. PAINT: DURON PAINTS AND WALLCOVERINGS. ENGINEERS: GIRARD ENGINEERING PC (MEP); THORNTON TOMASETTI CUTTS (STRUCTURAL). CONSULTANTS: CMS (AUDIO-VISUAL); MCLA (LIGHTING); THE PLANT AND THE PEBBLE (LANDSCAPING); POLYSONICS CORP. (ACOUSTICAL). CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: MARK G. ANDERSON CONSULTANTS. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: CLARK CONSTRUCTION GROUP.