Polson Building

Owner: Stanley Real Estate
Scope: 87,500 SF

Reflecting a rebirth into offices serving design-oriented tenants, the architectural concept for this fire-ravaged industrial structure celebrates the building’s urban nature, with a purposeful and suggestive darkness. This award-winning project involved core and shell design and transformation of one tenant floor. Upon entry, the lobby abandons the symmetry of the exterior, emphasizing a diagonal approach from entry to elevators. The new ramp and stairs, made from pitted and rusted salvage steel, were introduced as a layer over darkened maple flooring. Heavy timber columns with their cast iron corbels are consciously contained within the space. Overall, the palette is restrained with the exception of the rear wall, painted red, punctuating the subdued space.