By: Deborah Johnson Wood
In the past five years, the Grand Rapids offices of Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg LLP have operated from the Campau Square Plaza Building, then the Frey Building. Three weeks ago, the law firm moved into its new 20,000-square-foot offices on floors nine and 10 of the National City Bank Building, 171 Monroe.
The nearly $1.4 million rehab took everything down to the steel studs and outer walls, and rebuilt it into a 21st century space with high-efficiency work spaces.
"A steering committee of support staff, administrators, attorneys, and our designers from Concept Design spent a day touring law firms in downtown Chicago to get an idea of what we liked and didn’t like,” says Ted Boersma, spokesperson. “A lot of it came down to aesthetics — we felt it was important that the public spaces be integrated into our work while maintaining privacy for the clients, and we want to be able to use the space for public receptions and events.”
In the Frey Building, the firm worked on the second and fifth floors, which created a disconnection between employees. The new space features an open central stairway between the ninth and tenth floors — a design feature original to the building, meant to promote flow between the spaces.
“We did a glass wrap to the staircase and a wall backdrop of black charcoal granite with flecks of metallic,” says Aaron Mead, Pioneer Construction project manager. “There’s also a lot of high-end finishes like bubinga wood panels, dark cherry wood and etched glass.”
Pioneer Construction will apply for LEED for Commercial Interiors accreditation.
Source: Aaron Mead, Pioneer Construction; Ted Boersma, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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