Interior Remodel

Unisource Energy Services (UES) is a public utility company that provides Flagstaff with natural gas services. In 2001, UES contacted smithARCHITECTS (sA) to assist them in moving their entire operation to a vacant industrial building located at the Pulliam Airport Airpark.
 
sA’s work started with guiding UES through a programming phase that assisted them in identifying their current and future needs. During this phase, UES expressed a real need to increase employee communication, efficiency, and overall moral. SA understood this request and focused on developing a space that would provide an atmosphere that promotes social interaction and, in turn, increases employee moral and efficiency. In order to achieve this, social interaction nodes were provided throughout the space, that encourages employees to get away from their individual desks and utilize these seating areas to converse with each other in an inviting comfortable atmosphere. Employee efficiency was further increased by researching work activities of individual employees, identifying other employees that they required interaction with throughout the day, and organizing the office locations around these adjacency requirements.  
 
The building that UES was moving into was an existing shell building that was constructed as a speculative industrial warehouse. The structure consisted of un-insulated exposed concrete masonry walls, un-insulated exposed metal roof deck, overhead loading doors, and minimal exterior windows. SA converted this industrial building into a warm, inviting office space that consists of multiple administrative offices, open office areas with modular furniture systems, social interaction seating areas, various sized conference rooms, lunchroom, work rooms, and reception lobby. In order to increase comfort and improve energy efficiency, exterior walls were furred out to provide insulation, insulation was added to the roof deck, and overhead loading doors were replaced with large, dual pane storefront window systems.