Connect ing people to placeInteriors

New York, NY

A Taleof Three CitiesBy Br ian Parker

ith 19 offices around the world, and corporate headquarters in Midtown Atlanta, we were thrilled in 2009 when Kilpatrick Townsend asked Cooper Carry to partner with them on three major construction exercises on which they were about to embark. The next three years were comprised of back to back design and construction efforts, totaling more than 337,000 square feet of new or renovated interior space, in the major markets of Atlanta, Washington and New York.

With so many offices around the globe, each with its own distinct national and regional culture, the client

was open to the idea that each of their offices could look and feel different. They felt it important to give ownership of the office designs to the local attorneys and staff. Clearly this would not only allow us to ex-plore different and distinct design ideas for each space, it would also create a sense of “buy-in” for the user groups in each market.

Law firm design has changed and evolved since our first design project with Kilpatrick Townsend twenty years ago. Despite the freedom we had been given to craft a unique environment for each office location, it was of critical im-portance that each new office reflect the latest philosophies in how law firms work and operate today. One of these

key changes involved the increasing ratios of senior attorneys to legal administrative support. In the past, each partner would be assigned their own legal secretary, who would also serve two or three associate partners as well. This was essentially considered a 1:1 ratio. Emerg-ing trends have moved this ratio near 4:1; with some firms pushing closer to 5:1. This increasing ratio meant that square footage previously allocated for legal sec-retary support could be redistributed to other uses such as increased paralegal staff, flexible work areas for case work, or additional attorney offices.

A second evolution in law firm design was the need for adaptability and change within the work environment.

With all fixed wall offices, file rooms, supports spaces, etc, law firms were forced to work within the confines of the space that had already been developed, or undergo renova-tion work to accommodate a changing need. The new concept to help alleviate this problem was to create spaces which were modular in size and could be adapted to serve multiple purposes through the changing tides a firm would undergo. This was accomplished in different ways on each project, some with demountable wall systems and technology, and others with dimensional modularity to al-low for future flexibility.

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Washington D.C.

The gauntlet had been laid down. The challenge before us was to

renovate 10 floors of 19 year old existing law firm space while the

firm continued to operate and experience no down time. This was

accomplished through extensive coordination with the owner, the

landlord, the contractor, and the design team. The strategy em-

ployed was the generation of a nine phase construction schedule

over a 14 month period in which an entire practice group would

“swing” down to one of the three floors that would ultimately be

given up, thus allowing the contractor to demo and construct a full

floor of renovation at once. This was of course complicated by

tight durations and occupied space above and below the construc-

tion zone. Once complete, furniture was moved in and a practice

group would “swing” back upstairs to their new home; often on a

different floor then where they had started.

Further challenging the design effort was the firm’s decision to

pursue LEED gold certification. A few months before construc-

tion, the landlord announced that the 1100 Peachtree building

would pursue LEED EB (existing building) certification. This

was a tremendous relief as it would help lend a number of credits

toward the desired sustainability goal we were attempting to

achieve. With an existing space, and existing mechanical systems,

the team sought other avenues for the necessary LEED credits.

A few major contributors were a completely new lighting system

consisting of extensive occupancy sensors, 100% new carpet made

of extremely high recycled content and installed with zero glue,

and selective reuse of existing materials such as doors, frames, and

wood trim.

The program consisted of one floor of administration space, seven

attorney practice group floors, and two floors of public confer-

ence, library and dining facilities. The administrative floor was the

first to be renovated and consisted of the relocation of a large firm

wide copy and support center, new restrooms, a new break room,

and replacement of all finishes and lighting. The next seven phases

of construction were all focused on the main attorney practice

group floors.

The design concept for the attorney practice floors was a simple

one. We would keep in place the existing exterior corridor wall

which circled the entire floor plate and created a ring of associ-

The first and largest of the three projects that Cooper Carry was to embark on took place in Atlanta. Located at 1100 Peachtree Street, the firm’s international corporate headquarters occupied the top thirteen floors of an early 90’s midtown high rise. After an initial search of the Atlanta office market, the decision was made to remain in their cur-rent home on Peachtree. Capitalizing on their lease renewal, to achieve more efficiences, it was decided to reduce their footprint from their existing 13 floors to 10 floors for the new lease duration; netting close to 227,000 square feet of renovated space.

Atlanta

ate and partner offices all the way around. Each of these offices

would receive new finishes and a brand new high efficiency

lighting system. Everything on the inside of the perimeter office

ring would be demolished to make way for new “flexible” sup-

port spaces, of the which the design concepts were driven by the

aforementioned law firm trends.

The inner most core spaces were used to create both low and high

density filing rooms, break rooms, copy centers and other support

functions. The balance of the space was used to create a second-

ary “inner ring” of modular sized rooms which through the use

of a DIRTT demountable partition system, allowed for flexure

to occur. Groups of three modules, called “three packs”, were

created around this ring and would be used for paralegal offices,

war rooms, case assistant space, break out conference rooms and

even small library spaces. The innovation with this concept is the

ability for the firm to remove or install dividing partitions in each

of the three pack zones to create three single offices, one single

office and one double war room, two single offices and a confer-

ence room, etc. One other aspect of the inner ring design was the

creation of dedicated legal secretary stations on all four corners

of the floor. This design helped open up the corners spatially but

also served as an administrative space for each secretary, who

were now serving up to four partners at once. By opening up the

area between the stations, overlap of support was in place for

attorneys who need assistance but find that their administrator is

not available.

Aesthetically we were faced with the juxtaposition of the existing

ornate millwork doors and trim that adorned the previous fit out.

While walking down the ring corridor, you would see the beauti-

ful and detailed millwork on the outside of the corridor, and a new

more modern aesthetic presented by the demountable DIRTT

partitions on the inside. This play of old vs. new was mitigated by

the inclusion of matching wood panels on the DIRTT fronts and

modulation and rhythm with the way the elevations of the system

were designed. Once in place there was a harmony between the

two which felt pleasing and natural and was perceived as a mod-

ernization of the firm’s 19 year old aesthetic.

The final two phases represented the two most complex and

lengthy construction efforts. The top two floors of the building

housed the firm’s main reception space, a large attorney dining

room, numerous conference rooms, and a large law library. The

decision was made to cut the library square footage in half, an-

other national trend in law firm design, as the majority of today’s

law materials are available on the company’s digital network.

This opened up square footage to expand the dining room which

would allow the firm to remove the “attorney only” restriction,

thus offering it as an amenity for all employees; yet another

trend in modern day law firm design. Ornate millwork and detail

fill these two “public” facing floors and serve to make a grand

gesture to the firm’s history and stature in the Atlanta legal com-

munity. All new finishes, lighting, and conference room furniture

punctuated this successful renovation and re-stack.

The second project we completed with the firm took place

in the “big apple”. Until this point their New York practice

had been sub leasing space in midtown Manhattan from

another large international law firm. With continued

growth in the New York market the decision was made to

build out new office space to help catalyze their staff expan-

sion and success. After test fitting a number of buildings on

the midtown skyline, they settled on a space mid way up the

iconic Gordon Bunshaft “Grace” Building at 42nd Street

and 6th Avenue. Overlooking Bryant Park and the New

York Public Library, the 45,000 square feet of new space

would afford them with unobstructed views of the Empire

State Building and lower Manhattan.

Serving as the “design architect” for this effort, while the

building landlord and architect handled the construction

documents and administration, the space was designed as a

team effort with both our DC and New York offices. Inspi-

ration came from one of nature ’s enduring creations found

22 floors below in the Grace Building’s lobby and reception

space. Soft neutral travertine became the foundation of a

material palette which would be described as quiet, calm,

and timeless. A stunning wood veneer called “dyed mov-

ingue” has an almost opalescence in its figuring and cross

fire and punctuates the majestic arrival and reception area

for the firms clients.

New York

The New York staff was culturally receptive to the design concept incorporating blue leather seating into all of their conference rooms.

The planning concepts for the New York space were not unlike

those of the Atlanta renovation. A perimeter ring of partner and

associate offices lined by an internal ring of modular offices, work

rooms, and support space. Unlike in Atlanta, the decision for this

project was to use standard walls rather than the demountable

DIRTT system but by using a standard dimensional module, the

firm will be able to accommodate growth and future flexibility.

Corner legal secretary support spaces, again allow for trending

attorney secretary ratios and open up in volume at the ends of the

circulation corridors.

One other driving design concept was the creation of a central-

ized client reception and conferencing suite. All of the high end

public spaces were grouped on the central axis of the elevator

lobby which allow for amazing views of the city. This central-

ization of functions served as a method of budget control by

focusing the high dollar finishes into one area of the project while

allowing for a more fiscally responsible allocation of funds to the

balance of the floor.

The final punctuation for the New York design effort was the

inclusion of bold “blue” leather seating surfaces in all of the

conference rooms. While not a selection that would have been

made for the Atlanta project, because the firm allows for

individual identity in each office, the New York staff was

culturally open to this dynamic and unique design concept.

Overlooking Bryant Park and the New York Public Library, the 45,000 square feet of new space would afford our client with unobstructed views of the Empire State Building and lower Manhattan.

Our final design and construction effort for Kilpatrick Townsend

finished this spring in downtown Washington, DC. With the

White House in view, the historic Westory Building at the corner

of 14th and F Street, has served as the firms DC home for many

years. Occupying the top three floors of the building this 65,000+

square foot in place renovation would have some similar chal-

lenges to the Atlanta headquarters project, and would offer up

some new challenges as well.

As currently built, the firm was located on the 9th, 10th and 11th

floors of the building. Clients or guests would take the elevator to

the ninth floor and be received in a small, dark, internal recep-

tion space. Attorneys would come greet their guests and escort

them to any number of conference rooms scattered throughout

the three floors of the firm. We wanted to change this paradigm

but to do this meant we would have to propose a major change

to the design concept for the space. One floor up from the cur-

rent reception area, the building’s exterior skin has some inward

movements which created space for a long linear balcony; which

existed already but was not used. Our proposal was to demol-

ish all of the offices and support space in this corner of the tenth

floor to create a brand new unified reception and conferencing

suite for the firm. This would also allow them to activate and

utilize the exterior balcony as an amenity. Not unlike the New

York project, this major shift in thinking would allow for a con-

centration of high end materials in the public area of the project

and both freed up conferencing square footage in other areas of

the project while balancing the cost of the finishes in the employee

centric portions of the office.

After seven phases of in place construction were complete, the

firm had received a top to bottom face lift with new finishes, new

lighting, recaptured square footage for filing and workrooms, and

increased secretarial ratios to the same 4:1 level as the previous

projects. One of the highlights was a completely new design

for their large employee break area, bathed in natural light,

and showcasing a floor to ceiling mural of Pierre Charles

L’Enfant’s original master plan painting of Washington, DC.

Without question, the most impressive transformation

was the new reception and conferencing suite on the 10th

floor. Exiting the elevator you find the new reception space

adorned with a natural stone floor which turns vertically

to become a 100 foot long stone clad feature wall; linking

conferencing space on both ends. Warm “pickled oak” wood

veneer panels wrap the opposing elevator core and reappear

as accents and furnishings throughout the space. A dynamic

red wall wrapped in a three dimensional fabric create a focal

point of color visible in multiple adjacent conference rooms.

A showpiece boardroom at the end of the axis houses a

spectacular 40 + foot long table complete with an integrated

video conference camera lift and direct access to the exterior

balcony. The corner conference room no doubt serves as the

“pièce de résistance” with views to the White House and the

Washington Monument.

Washington D.C.

The corner conference room no doubt serves as the “pièce de résistance” with views to the White House and the Washington Monument.

Connecting people to placeInteriors

Cooper Carry’s interiors creates well-designed spaces to lift

and inspire the spirit. The studio provides a full range of profes-

sional interior design services, from programming through

space design through the complete selection of fittings, finishes

and furnishings. We are particularly skilled at identifying and

understanding the core vision of a client’s business, permit-

ting us to bring a high degree of connectiveness and insight

to our projects. We consistently create spaces that support the

client’s mission, rich in architectural language, promoting

interaction, enabling communication and erasing isolation and

separation which can be unhealthy resulting in an unproduc-

tive atmosphere. Our attention to detail leads to spaces that lift

morale, and help to control business operational costs, inevitably

resulting in more beautiful and functional spaces. Each design

represents the embodiment of the character and values of our

client. Each project is a uniquely, aesthetic solution tailored to

reflect the requirements and mission of the client.

Cooper Carry’s LEED Experience

44 LEED certified projects:3 Platinum, 18 Gold, 18 Silver, 5 Certified• New Alpharetta Branch Library, Alpharetta,

GA (LEED-NC v2009 Silver) 2016• Hyatt Place Baltimore/Inner Harbor,

Baltimore, MD (LEED-NC v2009 Silver) 2016• Sea Pines Beach Club and Plantation

Clubhouse, Hilton Head Island, SC (LEED-NC v2009 Certified) 2015

• North Carolina State University, Talley Student Center Additions & Renovations, Raleigh, NC (LEED-NC v2009 Silver) 2015

• Emory University, Chemistry Building Addition and Renovation, Atlanta, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2015

• Mylan Corporate Headquarters (LEED–NC v2009 Certified) 2015

• NASA Integrated Engineering Services Building, Hampton, VA (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2015

• Capitol Point Hyatt Place, Washington, DC (LEED-NC v2009 Silver) 2015

• Scott Building, Armed Forces Retirement Home, Washington, DC (LEED-NC v2009 Platinum) 2015

• Marriott Marquis Convention Center Hotel, Washington, DC (LEED-NC v2.2 Silver) 2014

• The George Washington University VSTC Conservation Facility, Ashburn, VA (LEED-CS v2009 Silver) 2014

• Embassy Suites Springfield, Springfield, VA (LEED-NC v2009 Certified) 2014

• USACE, Deployment Readiness & Training Center, Robins Air Force Base, GA (LEED-NC v2009 Silver) 2013

• Kilpatrick Townsend, Atlanta, GA (LEED-CI v2009 Gold) 2013

• Metro 125, Harlem, NY (LEED-NC v2.2 Silver) 2012

• Kennesaw State University, Architectural Studio Addition, Marietta, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Silver) 2012

• Kennesaw State University, Engineering Technology Center, Marietta, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Silver) 2012

• Kennesaw State University, WellStar College of Health and Human Services, Kennesaw, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2012

• Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAVFAC Southeast) P-8A Integrated Simulation/Training Center, Jacksonville, FL (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2012

• Gwinnett Technical College Life Sciences Building, Lawrenceville, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2012

• 800 North Glebe Road Building, Arlington, VA (LEED-CS v2.0 Gold) 2012

• 900 North Glebe Road Building, Arlington, VA (LEED-CS v2.0 Gold) 2012

• Arlington Capital View Renaissance and Residence Inn, Arlington, VA (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2012

• GSAC, FBI Field Office, Charlotte, NC (LEED-NC v2009 Silver) 2012

• NASA Langley Research Center Headquarters, Hampton, VA (LEED-NC v2.2 Platinum) 2011

• Kimley-Horn & Associates, Vero Beach Office, Vero Beach, FL (LEED-NC v2.2 Silver) 2011

• Sarah Smith Intermediate Center, Atlanta Public Schools, Atlanta, GA (LEED -Schools v2.0 Silver) 2011

• Carolina First Corporate Campus, Building A, Greenville, SC (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2010

• Carolina First Corporate Campus, Building B, Greenville, SC (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2010

• Cooper Carry Atlanta Office Interiors, Atlanta, GA (LEED-CI v2.0 Platinum) 2010

• Cisco Systems Corporate Campus, Building 6, Lawrenceville, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2010

• Berry College, Audrey B. Morgan and Deerfield Halls, Mount Berry, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2010

• Regions Bank at 200 Renaissance, Ridgeland, MS (LEED-CI v2.0 Gold) 2010

• Regions Bank Insurance Space at 200 Renaissance, Ridgeland, MS (LEED-CI v2.0 Gold) 2010

• 200 Renaissance at Colony Park, Ridgeland, MS (LEED-CS v2.0 Gold) 2010

• Athens Technical College, Health Sciences Center, Athens, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Silver) 2010

• GSA Echelon, FBI Field Office, Jackson, MS (LEED-NC v2.2 Certified) 2010

• University of Georgia, Tate Student Center, Athens, GA (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold) 2009

• Colonial Town Park 400, Lake Mary, FL (LEED-CS v2.0 Silver) 2009

• Cooper Carry Alexandria Office Interiors, Alexandria, VA (LEED-CI v2.0 Gold) 2008

• Metropolitan at Midtown Building B, Charlotte, NC (LEED-CS v2.0 Silver) 2008

• The Regent at 950 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA (LEED-CS v2.1 Silver) 2008

• Atlanta Community Food Bank, Atlanta, GA (LEED-NC v2.1 Silver) 2006

• Emory Mathematics & Science Center, Atlanta, GA (LEED-NC v2.0 Certified) 2005

Currently Seeking Certification and Registered with the USGBCCorporate/Office

• 1900 Crystal Drive, Crystal City, VA (LEED-CS v2009 Gold)

• 900 16th Street NW, Washington, DC (LEED-CS v2009 Gold)

• Capital Square Office Building (LEED-CS v2009 Gold)

• Cooper Carry New York Office Interiors, New York, NY (LEED ID+C: CI v3 - LEED 2009 Platinum)

• Riverwood 200 Office Building, Atlanta, GA (LEED BD+C: Core and Shell v2009)

K-12/Higher Education/Science + Technology• Bunche Middle School Renovation & Addition,

Atlanta, GA (LEED-Schools v2009 Silver) • Emory University, Oxford College, Fleming

Hall, Atlanta, GA (LEED-NC v2009 Silver)• Georgia Institute of Technology, Engineered

Biosystems Building, Atlanta, GA (LEED-NC v2009 Gold)

• Kennesaw State University, Student Recreation & Activities Center, Atlanta, GA (LEED-NC v2009 Gold)

• New North Atlanta High School, Atlanta, GA (LEED-Schools v2009 Silver)

• The Universities at Shady Grove, Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Education Building, Rockville, MD (LEED BD+C: NC v3 - LEED 2009)

Hospitality• 50 M Street Hotel, Washington, DC

(LEED-NC v2009 Silver)• AC Hotels by Marriott, Atlanta, GA (LEED-

NC v2009 Certified)• Columbia Place, Square 369, Washington, DC

(LEED BD+C: NC v3 -LEED v2009 Silver)• NC State University, StateView Marriott

Autograph Hotel (LEED-NC v2009 Silver)• The Main, Norfolk, VA (LEED-NC v2009

Silver)

Mixed-Use, Residential & Retail• AMLI at City Place, Atlanta, GA (LEED

BD+C: Homes v3 - LEED 2008 Silver)• AMLI Midtown at West Peachtree Street,

Atlanta, GA (LEED BD+C: NC v3 - LEED 2009 Silver)

• Landmark Mall Redevelopment, Alexandria, VA (LEED-CS v2009 Silver)

• McGinley Square Jersey City Mixed-Use Planning (LEED-ND v2009 Certified)

• Staten Island Lighthouse Point (LEED-CI v2009 Silver)

• The Woodley, Washington, DC (LEED-NC v2.2 Silver)

© Cooper Carry, inc. 2013Rev. 3-14-13

ATLANTA NEW YORK WASHINGTON

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