OFFICE INTERIORS CASE STUDY

Photos courtesy of NanaWall Systems

Project: Paramit Corporation
Location: Morgan Hill, California
Architect: Habitec Architecture

The Project: Paramit Corporation designs, engineers, and manufactures medical devices and life science instruments. When its staff size tripled in five years, the firm needed more space. Paramit embraced relocation as an opportunity to redefine its culture and enhance the collaborative atmosphere. The firm's new office design, a tenant improvement in an existing L-shaped space, was created by Habitec Architecture and Design of San Jose, California. Lab spaces are located on one leg of the L, offices on the other. Common spaces such as the reception area, coffee bar, and boardroom all cluster around the crux of the L.

The Challenge: Creating a new office for Paramit presented a paradox that is emblematic of contemporary office design: the desire for a working environment with attractive, open, collaborative space, and the simultaneous need for confidentiality and privacy. A visiting client, for example, must not be able to glimpse work being done for other clients or even know who the other clients are. For employees, in parallel with the benefits of collaboration, their working environments need the option of privacy and freedom from distraction.

The centrally located boardroom off the lobby was seen as a central feature. “As clients and prospects come in, the most important spaces for making an impression are the lobby and boardroom," explains Habitec's Vice President and Project Manager Jorge Romero. "Only after that do they get walked through labs, then the design area.”

Paramit’s Vice President of Engineering for Product Development Joe Carter describes the new boardroom as the "premiere meeting room.”

The Design Solution: Habitec's Design Director Karolina Glinka relates that the overall goal was “to make the new space feel open and inviting, fresh and contemporary.” There was a strong focus on presenting a high level of design in the common areas (the lobby and boardroom), which she describes as “the core of the space." She adds, “For the boardroom to be used as not just as a boardroom, we needed something to open up the space, to be used as an all-hands space for the entire company.”

Habitec resolved this seeming conflict by creating flexible, changeable spaces using an opening glass wall with enhanced privacy features. The boardroom is walled on two sides by an opening glass wall. At 52 feet long, it is the longest such system that Habitec has ever specified. The single-track sliding system allows panels to glide easily around the corner, providing a smooth transformation from closed room to open space. It incorporates a swing-door panel in the middle of the long side.

When closed, the room can seat 18 around the table and host a meeting with privacy. The frameless glass walls feature a frosted privacy band from knee height to shoulder level, providing visual screening of anyone seated inside, yet maintaining a strong sense of transparency. “That really allows us to have the confidentiality or the privacy needed,” confirms Paramit's Design President Rob Lathop. “When people are walking by, they know a meeting is going on, but they cannot see any of the detailed information—and yet we can still get all of the light in. We feel like it is still an open space.” The closed configuration also provides good acoustical privacy.

When fully opened, the boardroom blends seamlessly into a much larger area, capable of hosting all-hands-on meetings and social events. Glinka also points out that in its open condition, the boardroom can be used for small drop-in meetings. The designers aimed to bring daylight into the office, not only in the glass-walled boardroom but throughout. Individual offices all have an interior glass window so that light penetrates the space.

The Results: The new Paramit office has been successful in its goals, creating the openness the firm sought yet still allowing less-distracting workspaces and a strong “first impression” area anchored by the boardroom. That space has proved popular for small company meetings when it is not preempted by meetings with prospects and clients. Glinka says, “Maximizing the space was something we could only have done with an operable glass wall system.”

WOOD INTERIORS CASE STUDY

Photos: © Eleena Burgos; courtesy of Thermory USA

Project: Private Beachfront Residence
Location: Seal Beach, California
Contractor: JMR Contracting

The Project: Homeowners in Seal Beach, California, had chosen thermally modified wood cladding for the exterior of their home and opted to let it age naturally instead of oiling it to preserve the color. When remodeling the living room, their open design and large windows meant an accent wall would be visible from the outside. Their modern sensibility required a simple, contemporary material to bridge the gap between the natural outdoor setting and the clean indoor aesthetic.

The Challenge: As the cladding on the exterior of the house will naturally age to a silver color, the homeowners wanted to ensure their interior accent wall would complement the rustic finish while serving as a backdrop for their 85-inch mounted TV. The home maintained a clean, simple color scheme inside with aspects of both modern and rustic design. They liked the idea of barn wood but were not sure they would find material that was consistent and clean enough to suit their needs. As interior cladding, they could not take chances with unknowns like insects, mold, or rot.

The Design Solution: The decision was ultimately made to use thermally modified wood on the interior as wall cladding for a number of reasons. The beautiful, naturally weathered color of the thermally modified interior cladding offered a rustic barn wood appearance that would complement the aged look of their outdoor cladding perfectly. Because it is thermally modified real wood, it offers all the best qualities of reclaimed wood without any of the unknowns. As the exterior cladding ages, the inside and outside will come together for a unique, cohesive, naturally aged aesthetic that is both modern and timeless. The beachfront home faces some harsh weather conditions, including salt, wind, and dry air. The thermal modification process provides boards that stand up to the elements for decades.

The thermally modified boards were modified and milled not only to look great but also facilitate installation. The uniformity of the boards meant there were no crooked pieces or uneven ends, making installation a breeze. Joint end-matched (JEM) boards created clean, tight seams with very little wasted product.

The Results: The interior and exterior work on the house was being completed simultaneously, and the timeline was tight. Product samples were used to verify coloring and product quality. JMR Contracting was the contractor for this project, and Owner John Ridgeway says, "If I did not have the choice of colors, I would not have been able to recreate the look of the outside and produce something inside that will immediately match a year aged outside."

RESTROOM CASE STUDY

Photos courtesy of Bradley Corp.

Project: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

The Project: The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is “America’s Mountain Zoo,” perched at an elevation of 6,714 feet (2,046 meters) above sea level. Ranked the sixth best zoo in North America by USA Today in 2019, the zoo is home to animals from all over the globe. In support of its mission to provide guests with unforgettable experiences 365 days per year, the zoo has been renovating many of its existing buildings and constructing a number of exciting new exhibits. These include hands-on opportunities with the animals, such as hand-feeding the zoo’s large herd of giraffes.

The Challenge: With thousands of patrons daily feeding and petting animals, eating messy foods like melting ice cream cones, and using the restrooms, the zoo’s handwashing fixtures serve an important function in keeping hands clean and germ free. Moreover, the sinks must help keep the newly remodeled restrooms clean and well maintained, attractive and inviting, and easy to access and use for people of all ages.

The Design Solution: The design team at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo evaluated several handwashing systems for the busy public restrooms near the zoo’s main entrance, and one quickly rose to the top of the list. An innovative all-in-one system combines touch-free soap, faucet, and dryer into one sleek handwashing fixture. The product guides users with LED lighting plus intuitive icons and utilizes smart sensor technology for reliable activation. The dryer is engineered to work in tandem with the bowl to contain water and eliminate dripping or splashing onto the floor, wall, or user. Its unique all-in-one design keeps restroom spaces cleaner, dryer, slip free, and safer.

“The all-in-one fixture is streamlined and much more intuitive to use than the other models,” a zoo design team member says. “The other units we considered have individual dispensers that create a clunky and cluttered appearance on the deck. I also noticed they leave soap splotches in the basin. I love that the one we selected is designed with touch-free soap, water, and dryer elements all in one easy-to-use fixture. Plus, it does not leave traces of soap lying in the bowl.”

The Results: According to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the all-in-one handwashing concept has proven to be a hands-down winner for the zoo. It reports that the restrooms have been much cleaner with the addition of the new fixtures and note that there is no more paper towel litter scattered on the floor. The design team notes, “Not only is the basin and fixture easy for our grounds crew to wipe down and keep clean, but its streamlined design also promotes an overall sense of neatness and tidiness in the restroom we have not had before. Our remodeled restrooms look great, and the sinks are fabulous.”

Further, the design team notes that the new handwashing system supports the zoo's conservation and green building initiatives. “We chose the 0.35 gpm faucet to limit the amount of water that is dispensed,” the design team adds. “The timed sensor technology also eliminates the problem we used to have when the old manual faucets were left running. These have been such a great addition that we are adding two more units to the restrooms near our hippo/penguin exhibit, and have another two fixtures earmarked for our new aquatics building.”