For 35 years, law firm Burch & Cracchiolo, operated out of their two-story office building, designed and built for how they were working at that time, which included a large library in the middle, file rooms, and one secretary desk for every attorney office. But as things changed and evolved in the way they were working, Burch & Cracchiolo began ruminating on two goals: make the space more efficient by bringing all of the employees on to one floor, and create an office space that provided a light and open environment.
Immediately, Burch & Cracchiolo brought in commercial real estate firm Savills to strategize on whether their existing facility could meet the company’s goals or if a new location was necessary. After months of deliberating, it was decided to find a new location and collaborate on the project with interior architecture firm McCarthy Nordburg and furniture dealer Forward Tilt.
Bringing in the right partners early on was vital to the success of the team. “The most successful design projects are those in which a strong vision is established early on. This creates the foundation for creativity to flow and most importantly having a wonderful client that supports and encourages this process is extremely rewarding,” said David A. Hobart Jr., Principal and Design Director at McCarthy Nordburg.
Cory Shepard, Principal of Project Management at Cresa, recalls a photo he took during one of the meetings early on in the process, where everyone was in the room walking through initial renderings of the space. "It truly was a testament of the great collaboration," Shepard says. During these initial concept meetings, adjustability, multiple types of landing spaces, along with universal access to natural views and sunlight became cornerstones to the project.
Opening the floor plate allowed the team to come up with clever new ways of addressing what office workstations looked like in a 21st century law office. “Initially, the goal was to create various spots in the building where people could sit and have conversations,” explained Villadolid. “We created little landing spots in open areas where people can work together. For private areas, we created little phone booths which are really just mini offices for people to use.”
Alan Meda, Partner at Burch & Cracchiolo who was also tasked with supervising the project, agreed, adding, “From a furniture standpoint: the furniture is very flexible and also height-adjustable. We knew we were going to lose offices but gain views, and this made a big difference.”
Another important element to the project’s success was including everyone in some of the furniture decisions. Meda recalls, “Michelle and her team not only met with all of the attorneys, but they also met with all of the staff to help them understand the choices that they would have in their personal spaces. Everyone in the firm became more invested.”
Michelle Heeb, Principal at Forward Tilt, spoke of the process. “We met with the departments and everyone together, and then we individually met with them. David, Alan and our [design] team paired down the choices, storage components and the layouts. We made sure that everybody felt really good about their space, giving them the opportunity to choose their personal storage and whether they got a new chair. That buy-in was a really big factor in peoples’ excitement and enthusiasm for the space.”
The result is an exciting new space with everyone on a single floor, scaled down from 30,000 sq. ft. to 20,000 sq. ft., accomplished through smart design and right sized spaces. David and Alan credit acute attention to detail and creative solutioning that made the project feel seamless and agree it was a wonderful team effort.
Project Details
Headquarters:
Phoenix, AZ
20,000 sq. ft.
80 Employees
Partnerships:
Forward Tilt
McCarthy Nordburg - A&D Firm
Cresa - CRE Firm
Product Solutions
Seating:
Evo™, Peak™, Retreat™, Gunlocke Genesee™
Workspaces:
Approach™, Stride® Gunlocke Silea™
Tables:
Harvest™, Peak™, Gunlocke Briefing
Storage:
Gunlocke Briefing™, Gunlocke Silea™