Folded Wings

The first consequential decision in the architecture was to angle the typical office bar at mid-point of its footprint to outline an urban plaza porous to pedestrian circulation. This leaves the optimization of the core and shell plan for workspace unchallenged but delivers a tangible reward in the quality of public space generated. The angles used to bend the building and its proportion and to define the butterfly section are entirely intuitive. The parti in plan follows existing good practices in workplace planning, while at its edges, a controlled articulation of in-and-outs significantly confers visual interest thanks to the hypnotic interplay of light and shadow as sun rays hit the exterior surfaces. This two-story structure cantilevers those cut outs on the upper flooring, essentially becoming canopies shielding direct light to the floors below. A free-standing structure with a canted canopy signals access to the two levels of parking below grade. Upon arrival from the parking garage, visitors encounter a butterfly theme embodied in a folded roof and a folded facade: folding is the leitmotif of this project. The multiplication of those roofs breaks the scale of the anonymous office bar into visually comprehensible units that when knitted together add richness and texture to the massing. This Leed Certified speculative office building’s appearance yields a form of humane modernism at the scale of the pedestrian.