Pablo Diaz: “Enova, a financial services company, approached us to energize their existing technology department. We focused on leveraging the space itself as a tool to help the team collaborate. Opening up the large floor plate allowed us to increase daylight in the interior while a sense of order and intimacy was maintained with the division of the space into distinctive zones.
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Pablo Diaz is a project manager at Brininstool + Lynch in Chicago. Photo: Samantha Simmons
“The biggest challenge was a 150-foot-long blank wall, which couldn’t be opened to the exterior because of its adjacency to another downtown high-rise. So we made it into an asset by creating an artistic yet functional feature wall.
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The long, textural wall was designed once it was determined that the wall could not be opened to the outdoors. The resulting feature uses noise-reducing recycled fiberboard fins to become an intriguing and functional asset.
“The recycled fiberboard material was a collaboration between our firm and Tietz-Baccon. The abstracted undulating fins of the feature act as an acoustic panel, trapping any airborne noise traveling through the space.”
![11012-PHT-56-HR](https://gbdtest.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/11012-PHT-56-HR.jpg)
An acoustic foam was sprayed on the ceiling above the aluminum baffles in the cafeteria and then backlit, creating a loft-like feel and exaggerating the height of the workspace.
![11012-PHT-59-HR](https://gbdtest.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/11012-PHT-59-HR.jpg)
The distinctive blue acrylic panels wrapping the office’s core create a striking visual detail that subtly reflects light and animates the space. Conference and breakout rooms are encased in glass to maximize daylighting and highlight the location’s 270-degree views of downtown Chicago.