American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Washington, DC
ACTA, The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, is a non-profit organization that works with alumni, donors, trustees and education leaders from a wide range of colleges and universities across the United States to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards and ensure a high quality college education. ACTA required an office space beyond the typical office layout and open work spaces. Therefore, GTM put most of the design focus on the reception area, the large conference room, the small library/conference room and the eat-in galley. Where possible, GTM utilized the existing infrastructure to accommodate the new design and layout of the space.
The existing space was equipped with a few unique features which included exposed concrete columns, an existing clean line reception desk and beautiful black stone tile in the reception/lobby. ACTA expressed an eagerness to retain these elements and employ them as ground zero for our design. GTM opted to integrate recycled barn wood planks and full scale graphics in the form of wallcovering as the wall application in the majority of the spaces. These two elements became the thread that tied the entire office together.
The main feature element, dubbed as the map wall, was a collaborative effort between GTM and ACTA. Images were carefully selected and composed to create a collage that was purely representative of the mission of this organization. To add a layer of depth and tangible interaction, fixed cables were installed to hold adjustable white boards where current projects can be updated and displayed.
