An open office

Andrea Codrington -- Interior Design, 5/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

The employees at Human Rights Campaign joke about working in a building with no closets—an appropriate architectural metaphor for a nonprofit organization that advocates gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights. "The design really speaks to the fact that our constituents have nothing to hide," HRC president and executive director Cheryl Jacques says of the stunning Skidmore, Owings & Merrill interior, which maximizes visibility and openness.

A glass-fronted International Style gem in the midst of classicist Washington, D.C., the 1956 building originally housed Jewish organization B'nai B'rith International, but the eight-floor structure had entered midlife in less than perfect shape, encumbered by a 1970's addition. After deciding to buy, HRC hired Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum to carry out a thorough renovation—requiring, of course, a similarly elegant interior solution.

"Every decision we made hinged on how the space would look from the outside," says Nestor Santa-Cruz, the SOM lead project designer who recently joined SKB Architecture and Design as partner. His stripped-down schema emphasizes Miesian gestures: horizontal and vertical planes in such contrasting materials as terrazzo, slate, polished concrete, oak, and glass. An occasional yellow accent references the organization's logo—a yellow equals sign on a blue square field. "We overlaid office and retail typologies," says SOM partner Stephen Apking. "A neutral base palette with a single bright color and bold graphics." And light suffuses virtually the entire headquarters, 40,000 square feet encompassing the basement through the fifth floor.

Because tenants occupy the building's top three levels, the lobby had to do triple duty as shared territory, a branded entrance, and a public presence, the latter assuming particular importance, given HRC's proximity to all branches of the federal government. That complex program resulted in a space divided between a general entry and the HRC zone: a conference center for board meetings, an "action center" for political activists who drop in to use phones or computers, and a spacious "equality forum" that accommodates up to 200 people for parties, media events, and staff gatherings.

The stylishly luminous interior displays a who's who of modern and contemporary furniture—from Harry Bertoia to Humberto Campana—as well as a custom reception desk celebrating the endless possibilities of intersecting planes. Less apparent, one further detail speaks volumes about the organization's constituency. "There are three rest rooms on the ground floor," explains Santa-Cruz. "Men's, women's, and a private gender-neutral bathroom."

The light-filled lobby's airy atmosphere extends to the four upper levels, each of which features an open-plan work area for the majority of employees, plus a run of glassed-in offices overlooking a back alley. (Only the president and CFO have street-facing offices, a move that denotes not only their position but also the need for their actions to be visible to the public at large.) An occasional bright orange chair offsets the rectilinearity of workstations by Bataille & Ibens, while molded-plywood chairs by Charles and Ray Eames and cement tables by Maya Lin furnish a combination coffee bar and meeting area.

Transforming a mid-century building into a contemporary showpiece may be easier than updating society's perception of a maligned minority. But longtime HRC executive director Elizabeth Birch, who stepped down last year, believes there just may be a link between the two. "It was a monumental day when we raised HRC's flag and the American flag, just five blocks away from the White House," she says. "This building represents the spark of everyone in our community—and marks a turning point in the biggest civil-rights issue of our time."

At Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., an "action center" provides drop-ins with Aluminum Group chairs by Charles and Ray Eames and H2O work tables by Bataille & Ibens. They're separated by twinned glass panels in a yellow derived from HRC's logo. Flooring is terrazzo.

From top: Nestor Santa-Cruz outfitted HRC's conference center with a 30-foot-long table, topped in plastic laminate. In the slate-floored lobby's waiting area, leather-covered chairs sit in front of Fernando and Humberto Campana's Zig Zag Paravento screen in steel and plastic.

From top: In HRC's "equality forum," which can hold 200 for parties and media events, raw concrete pillars contrast with glossy terrazzo flooring and sleek seating by Harry Bertoia, Verner Panton, and the Eameses. Ceramic tiles clad the wall of a hallway.

From top: A wool-upholstered Pub & Club chair sits amid Bataille & Ibens workstations in one of the office areas on levels two through five. The custom reception desk combines plastic laminate, oak, colored glass, and ash.

GLASS PANELS (ACTION CENTER, WAITING AREA): CESAR COLOR. CHAIRS (ACTION CENTER), MOLDED-PLYWOOD CHAIR (OFFICE): HERMAN MILLER. WORK TABLES (ACTION CENTER), TABLE (CONFERENCE CENTER), TABLES (EQUALITY FORUM), WORKSTATIONS, UPHOLSTERED CHAIR (OFFICE), CUSTOM DESK (RECEPTION): BULO. CARPET (CONFERENCE CENTER): TUVA LOOMS. CHAIRS (CONFERENCE CENTER, WAITING AREA, EQUALITY FORUM): MITCHELL GOLD CO.; KNOLL TEXTILES (FABRIC). WALL PANELING (CONFERENCE CENTER, LOBBY, EQUALITY FORUM): WIDE PLANK INTERNATIONAL. SCREEN (WAITING AREA): EDRA THROUGH CONTEMPORARIA. WALL LIMESTONE (LOBBY, EQUALITY FORUM): STONE SOURCE. WIRE CHAIRS (EQUALITY FORUM): KNOLL. PLASTIC CHAIRS: VITRA. WALL TILE (HALLWAY): WATERWORKS. CEILING TILE: ARMSTRONG. PAINT: BENJAMIN MOORE CO. MILLWORK: COLUMBIA WOODWORKING. LIGHTING CONSULTANT: MCLA. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: SMOOT CONSTRUCTION.