PROJECT Blue Ocean Headquarters
LOCATION Baltimore, ,
PROJECT COMPLETION DATE 6/30/2013
ARCHITECT Kroiz Architecture
ASSOCIATED ARCHITECT PI.KL
OWNER/CLIENT Blue Ocean Realty
CONTRACTOR Blue Ocean Realty
PHOTOGRAPHER Multiple Photographers - Alain Jaramillo, Mark Moyer, Kuopao Lian
DESIGN TEAM Gabriel Kroiz
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT:
Interior and Exterior Remodel for Blue Ocean Realty corporate headquarters The project involves a range of improvements to a 1960’s former bank located in an area where original businesses departed long ago and subsequent building and streetscape improvements have ranged from fresh signage, to the commercial vernacular of EIFS and carpet. Adhering to $40/sf budget, the project set its sights on the region’s best commercial developments as both the standard of amenity, and its future competition. The project’s identity and the financial strategy involve reasserting the building’s existing Modernism through a combination of low-cost preservation and strategic innovation intended to signal the reoccupation of the building and enhance performance on all fronts. SKIN TREATMENT Existing Exterior. The ‘skin treatment’ is presented as a sensitive approach to one of Modern Architectures common ailments not only with regards to improved comfort and performance, but also sensitive to what it doesn’t require including the need to dispose of an existing system or purchase a new one. Skin Treatment’ involves both ‘subcutaneous’ and ‘superficial’ modifications to the building, which address both the performance and the image of the legacy curtain wall. The ‘subcutaneous’ enhancements take place beneath the skin and include the application of additional low ‘e’ glazing, sealant and insulation producing significant gains in the systems thermal performance including a tripling of the buildings ‘R’ value equating to a 20% energy savings for the building overall. The ‘superficial’ and arguably more interesting of the performance enhancements take place above the skin in the form of a perforated metal rainscreen. The rainscreen both leaves the legacy curtain wall intact in an act of preservation and shades the surface of the building from direct solar gain. The act of penetrating one façade to support another provides the designer opportunities to reconfigure the building appearance as a form of aesthetic renewal that preserves rather than erases the original skin off the building. INTERNAL OPERATIONS The ‘Internal operations’ are aimed to restore primary spatial qualities of the building through the removal of excess partition and ceiling, and the considered arrangement of the company’s operational organs within the curtain wall and below a new pendant lit ceiling. A membrane of translucent storefront and back-to-back reception desks separates the retail and commercial operations. The retail system is a ‘leasing center’ entered from the main road which presents apartment hunting for the company’s low to middle income customers as a staged experience including a lobby populated with sleek furniture, scale apartment models, a regional map of apartment choices, interactive kiosks, beverages, a sales bar, and finally the signing offices. The commercial system, entered from the parking lot houses the company’s development and management functions, but also provides a curated exhibit of the company’s portfolio, the conference center and a management side view of ‘leasing’ for the company’s current and future investors.
IMAGE CAPTIONS & CREDITS
IMAGE 1 Blue Ocean-high res ext.jpg, Exterior, Mark Moyer
IMAGE 2 Blue Ocean-high res int.jpg, Interior, Alain Jaramillo
IMAGE 3 Blue Ocean-01.jpg, Skin Treatment- Rainscreen Facade Detail, PI:KL
IMAGE 4 Blue Ocean-02.jpg, Interior - Leasing Center, Alain Jaramillo
IMAGE 5 Blue Ocean-03.jpg, Diagram - Interior Operations, PI:KL
IMAGE 6 Blue ocean-ext panels.jpg, Skin Treatment, Mark Moyer
IMAGE 7
MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project PDF
Blue Ocean Headquarters
Category
AIA Maryland > Commercial Architecture (AIA Maryland)
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