Contemporary Urban Offices with Flexible Room to Grow

The new Washington, DC location of O’Brien-Garrett, a nonprofit-focused fundraising and communications firm, took inspiration from the company’s New Orleans office, mixing contemporary urban design with touches of historic flair. Utilizing their branded color palette of vibrant greens and blues with cool white and black also helped bridge the two locations.

Creating a space with many different areas for large or small group discussions was a primary goal, along with a casual area for employees or visitors to relax. The office consists of workstations in an open concept L-shaped floor plan, a central pantry, small and large conference rooms, an enclosed huddle room, phone chamber, dedicated privacy/mothering room, and plenty of open flexible areas for meetings or relaxing. Additionally, we had to make sure the space was capable of office hoteling and could become a space that employees would want to frequent, so ample areas for hoteling and storage for visiting employees were key in the overall design. Large window expanses and a light well area provide abundant natural lighting to the suite.

A robust pantry acts as the central hub of the office. While close to public areas, such as a conference room and huddle space, it also maintains sufficient separation from the more private areas of the office. Featured in that private portion is an open lounge area at the corner of the building, prominently located to capitalize on the location’s District view, providing expansive views of the bustling metropolitan intersection of 12th and G Streets below.

To allow O’Brien-Garrett future potential growth, an adjacent suite for office rental was also designed. The adjacent spec suite has a conference room and offices as well, with a layout and finishes designed to complement the main office. This expansion of the project not only provides the company this possibility to grow by simply connecting the office spaces, but also presented another cost savings opportunity by offering a budget-conscious spec suite to help offset the upscale finishes in the main space.