Best of Year: Office Renovation

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 12/1/2010 3:54:00 PM

Project: Grey Group
Firm: Studios Architecture
Location: New York

Headquartered in the same modernist tower since the Mad Men era, the marketing and communications firm formerly known as Frey Advertising has moved to a limestone landmark. Principal Tom Krizmanic kept the shock to a minimum by seamlessly integrating a sequence of contemporary spaces into the 100-year-old architecture. Because the arched entrance is glazed, even casual passers by can see straight through the lobby and into the garden atrium that serves as a vertical hub. It's surrounded by workstations for account executives, studios for creatives, print and audio-video production suites, and a town hall with a wall that slides away to fit 325 people for bimonthly meetings. For reception desks, break-out areas, meeting room enclosures, and a movable screen setting off a state-of-the-art presentation center, Krizmanic used wood reclaim from Pennsylvania barns, and workstations have bamboo tops. Eco-friendliness and continuity meet with the mid-century furnishings, brought over from the agency's previous location.

Merit Winners:


Project: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Firm: Studios Architecture
Location: New York
Standout: This law firm’s maverick character comes through in the formed-birch slats that allow glimpses into the boardroom, located right above a café featuring an LED chandelier with crystal pendants.


Project: Guess
Firm: Studios Architecture
Location: Los Angeles
Standout: At a warehouse once owned by Howard Hughes, stamped vinyl repurposed from handbags became the multipurpose room’s seating pads, and an ad campaign yielded the lounge’s Claudia Schiffer silk screen.


Project: Ogilvy & Mather
Firm: Gensler
Location: New York
Standout: A 1913 chocolate factory, now certified LEED Gold, houses a marketing and communications firm where interconnectivity takes the form of open libraries and conference rooms with sliding walls.