The Heart of the Workplace
A central amenity space includes a casual café which serves visitors and clients throughout the day.
Project Tag: artwork
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Carr Workplaces – Convergence
An Immersive Entry
Upon entering the building, visitors are entrenched within the convergence ecosystem. Collaboration spaces including: community tables, informal lounge settings and private conference rooms surround the dynamic 2-story atrium. The artfully woven lighting above the atrium is symbolic of the idea exchange concept and serves as a subtle branded component. The balance of exposed structural steel elements and refined details speaks to the synergy between “Boilermakers” and corporate partnerships.
The Carr space continues the subtle color story of the atrium, and reimagines it as bold patterns and strategic color blocking. A neutral foundation of the iconic Purdue “black and gold” translates to steel and wood, and enables bright blues, oranges and greens to take center stage.
Layering Legacy Through Art
The artwork contributes seamlessly to the dynamic color integration, and reveals another layer of the complex design. Carefully curated art reminds users of the rich Purdue University heritage, and their contributions to Agriculture, Aeronautics, Engineering and Space Exploration.
Empowering Users Through Diverse Work Settings
A diverse assortment of work settings allows users to tailor the space to meet their needs. The incorporation of neighborhood plazas places the opportunity to collaborate at the user’s doorstep. Both formal and informal settings support this exchange and further the opportunity to choose. Strategic circulation paths facilitate impromptu exchanges, and are designed to encourage wellness.
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LDI, Ltd.
Subtle Design Elements Celebrate a Rich Company Heritage
The interior design and corporate branding pay tribute to the rich heritage of the company in subtle ways such as the incorporation of the “Lacy Knot” in the pattern of a suspended ceiling and a custom conference table.
A Sculptural Staircase That Connects Floors and Company History
Additionally, the design includes a new staircase to connect their two floors of office space. The stair features custom sculptural details to pay homage to the company’s history in the corrugated paper industry and milestone dates.
Design Guided by Listening and Discovery
There are a multitude of details that the design team was able to incorporate into the final design through careful research, in-depth visioning, and interview sessions with the client.
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Clif Bar
A Workplace Shaped by the Natural World
Biophilic Design was crucial in creating an interior and exterior that would be an invigorating and comfortable environment for workers who spend long shifts indoors. Drawing on inspiration from the native Indiana geology, the building is clad in rough limestone detailed to express horizontal strata, and utilizes shading devices which draw upon the complexity and order of natural patterns, creating a soft play of light similar to that of a deciduous woodland.
Thoughtfully Designed Interiors Balance Gathering, Retreat, and Equity
These themes of prospect and refuge continue inside, offering dynamic double-height spaces in which to host all-hands meetings, as well as intimate nooks for private rest and respite. By express intention, every single employee has the same arrival experience and amenities. Bakery staff and office workers alike are intermixed in social spaces under skylights and at critical building zones. Given prominence due to the people it serves, the employee breakroom occupies the outer portion of the second floor. It is afforded sweeping view of the outdoors, and is uniquely branded to reflect the spirit and diversity of Clif Bar’s employees.
Design Guided by Data, Research, and Proven Biophilic Strategies
CSO’s design process was enhanced through workplace research data provided by DORIS Research as well as input on biophilic design features from Terrapin Bright Green, who has developed biophilic design strategies for other Clif Bar facilities.
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Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine
Where Design Redefines Healthcare
A dramatic two‑story dimensional wall and sculptural lighting set the tone for a space that feels elevated, unexpected, and distinctly un‑clinical.
Personalized Through Art
Upstairs, the reception area features a unique and beautiful installation. This time, a wood-and metal sculpture grabs your attention. It undulates against the wall, conjuring a spinal cord. Across the waiting room, patients can catch a glimpse of a companion piece: a spine-like light fixture hanging above a staff-only conference space.
Design to Support Everyone
Clinical and staff spaces alike are designed with the same level of care and intention as patient‑facing areas, creating an environment that feels warm, thoughtful, and personal.
A social hub on each floor contains upscale casework and the warmth of a wood ceiling. The second floor social hub includes a dramatic upholstered bench, providing much needed respite for staff.
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IBJ Media Headquarters
CSO turned constraints—low ceilings and odd angles—into character at IBJ’s new headquarters.
Cursed with low ceilings and odd angles, the space presented challenges for space planning and capturing natural light. CSO’s interiors team focused on the positive – great views of Monument Circle and raw building materials that told the story of the building’s past. The designers embraced the odd building shape as an opportunity to carve out interesting spaces.
Upon entering the IBJ’s new offices, visitors are greeted by a custom art installation created from rolled up pieces of the IBJ’s past publications. Working closely with CSO, the artist took great care to highlight quirky references to Indiana, setting a sophisticated-but-fun tone from the very beginning.
Front-Desk Branding Pays Tribute to Printing Press Letters
The reception desk sits in front of a black-on-black logo, representing raised printing press letters covered in black ink, a reference to the history of the profession.
Where Print Meets Digital: Old and New in Harmony
Other creative decisions were guided by the mostly linear layout of a newspaper and by the idea of the old meeting the new. As we sit at a crossroads between digital and printed news consumption, this new office tells a beautiful story of those things working in harmony with each other both in function and aesthetic.
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Lacy School of Business
Open, Visible Spaces That Spark Creative Collisions
The design provides visibility by creating transparent spaces that invite participation in central locations around the multi-story atrium at the heart of the building. In addition, the central, broad, open stairs and generous balconies encourage creative collisions as students, faculty, and visitors move and interact throughout the building.
A Hub Where Learning, Business, and Collaboration Converge
The Innovation Commons, which opens onto the central atrium, is equipped for students to start and run their own businesses as well as a wide range of other types of experiential learning. The Centers, distributed around the main level, provide space where business professionals, faculty, and students work together to solve business challenges. Glass overhead doors open to connect to the atrium and convey the importance and vitality of that work to the school and its guests.
A Legacy Woven into the Building: The Story of Andre B. Lacy
The Butler Business School is named in honor of Andre B. Lacy, a local, successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, as well as a committed family man and daring adventurer. CSO’s design honored his life with a series of installations that incorporate a collection of custom-designed icons representing his many facets. The icons appear throughout the building as design elements in areas such as the rug in the main atrium and small medallions that are hidden throughout the building.
A Timeline of Growth, Purpose, and Possibility
A timeline of Andre Lacy’s life takes the form of 25 envelopes, connecting his first job in a mailroom and the endowment gift, reminding students that their humble beginnings can build to something great.
Design Details That Carry Memory, Craft, and Continuity
The design team also featured objects that were important to Lacy – the time clock Lacy once used to clock into his job and the motorcycle he rode across continents. These were both gifts from the family who were intimate collaborators on the project.
The conference table in the board room adjacent to the Dean’s office features the Lacy family knot and is a duplication of a table that exists at Lacy’s corporate headquarters.
A New Landmark Shaping the Heart of the Campus
Located in a prominent place on the campus, visible from the east entrance, the building completes the cross axis of the original campus masterplan. The building’s vertical towers and active silhouette reflect the characteristics of the much-loved historic campus. The building replaces a parking lot and defines the intersection of the two major green spaces at the center of the campus. CSO completed this project in collaboration with Goody Clancy.
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