The brief from the owner was to create an office building that could have multiple end-users. At the outset, the strategy was to make a facility that was not only flexible, but also had a civic presence.

The building was organized into three basic areas;A central office block flanked by two service areas, one at the front and another at the rear. The centre block, a large 60’ wide column free space was repeated on the upper floors. The main stair, expressed in the façade as a tall grey volume, an elevator and acommon conference room were

accommodated in the front service area and the rear block housed the toilets, building services, a spare elevator and a fire escape stair.

The upper floor, designed as a private suite of offices for the client, was expressed a dark grey slab apparently floating on the glass wall below. Punctured with square windows, the horizontality provides a dramatic counterpoint to the verticality of the stair volume. A corner of this grey box was cut away on the front façade to reveal a shaded terrace, as a private area for refuge and contemplation.