Asia & The Gulf Commercial Design Trends Asia Commercial Design Vol. 30/9 | Page 27

Below:Reclaimed maple wood
floors from an old factory bring
visual warmth to the interior of
the new Kimberly-Clark offices
in the refurbished Civic Opera
House building in Chicago. The
reception area features Eames
chairs on a green carpet.

Modern business isn’t necessarily best
suited to a state-of-the-art contemporary building.
Sometimes, the most inspiring workplace is one
imbued with character that has developed over
many decades.
When global manufacturer Kimberly-Clark went
looking for a new Chicago office for its social media
research team, it was the 85-year-old Civic Opera
House building that came up trumps.
Architect Tom Zurowski of Eastlake Studio, who
has been involved in the building redevelopment,
says the Civic Opera House had long been hailed
as an iconic Art Deco building.
“The interior, however, was not somewhere a
young workforce would aspire to – it was regarded
as a somewhat stodgy old building with lots of
small, enclosed offices.
“On the plus side, the building is right on the
Chicago River, so it has extensive views. And the
penthouse floors where this office is located had
the advantage of large windows on three sides.”
Eastlake says the new building owner had
already gutted the floors, leaving just a bare shell
with exposed services.
“Our job was to make the spaces habitable, by
ensuring they met local building codes, which was
challenging. This included creating a second egress
on the upper level of this office.”
The architect says the building was redeveloped
to meet the needs of young professionals, who are
commonly looking for older character buildings
that cater to modern technology requirements, and
have additional amenities – this building features a
fitness centre, entertainment deck and bar.
“This