Agoos/Lovera Architects has completed two striking – yet very different – office environments at One South Broad (formerly the PNB building), adjacent to Philadelphia’s City Hall. Red Tettemer is a hot advertising agency that specializes in marketing for the telecommunications and entertainment industries, with clients like Cablevision and Comcast. Electronic Ink is a rapidly growing software interface design firm with clients such as the City of Philadelphia and Johnson & Johnson. “They are very different corporate cultures,” says principal Ted Agoos, AIA. “One is immersed in colors and playful forms. The other is cooler and more laid-back.”

 

Red Tettemer Advertising

 

The exploration and synthesis of divergent ideas is crucial to the success of a creative firm, and the best and most original ideas are often born from casual encounters among individuals of different departments and backgrounds. That concept was at the heart of Agoos/Lovera Architects’ design for Red Tettemer, an award-winning advertising agency when it opened an office in Narbeth (just outside of Philadelphia) a few years ago. The agency soon ran out of space – the staff grew quickly from 14 to 60. Founders Ed Tettemer and Steve Red decided to relocate to downtown Philadelphia last year. Principal Ted Agoos, AIA, and his team were asked once again to create a dynamic office environment at One South Broad. The 17,000-square-foot space consists of two floors, one of which was the former Wanamaker penthouse apartment, and the other a standard office floor.

 

When asked if the clients wanted their new space to be more sophisticated and “grown up” than their previous office, “The answer was a resounding NO,” Agoos says. “They wanted a space that would be conducive to getting the creative juices flowing – a little bit of ‘raw’ and a little bit of ‘finish’.”

 

Much like an urban downtown, both the 24th and 25th floors have been transformed through a vibrant “office as a town” solution. The lower floor uses bold, rich colors, spirited forms, and transparency to produce a lively working environment for the firm’s creative functions, while the ornate penthouse floor houses administrative functions as well as conference rooms, a café, and terraces overlooking City Hall and The Avenue of the Arts. 

 

But the vitality of the office does not stop with the paint, materials, or art that permeates the entire space. The rather playful reception area that includes copper laminate ceiling panels, and red cork flooring is the perfect introduction for visitors to the unusual environment beyond. “Public areas” along a “Main Street” encourage people to congregate, allowing them to draw from as many disparate parts of the company as possible. Glass walls on offices open much like storefronts onto Main Street, prompting frequent, serendipitous encounters among staff. The color scheme and window walls tie the two floors together.

 

“In order for a modern office to thrive, the design must embrace the fact that it is a social environment,” says Agoos. “The space we designed for Red Tettemer does just that and, reflecting the client, interjects a healthy dose of fun as well.”

 

Electronic Ink

 

The new office for Electronic Ink occupies 31,000 square feet on the 19th and 20th floors of One South Broad Street. In moving from a significantly smaller, one-story office (only 6,000 square feet), it was important to the clients, Harold and Johanna Hambrose, that the space be cohesive with easy interaction between floors.

 

For Ted Agoos, AIA, and the Agoos/Lovera Architects design team, the husband/wife client team presented somewhat of a double challenge. “He likes a hard-edge, slick look, while she preferred curves – a softer, kinder, gentler space,” Agoos explains. “So we created layers of aesthetics that begin as elegant and subdued, and get progressively more raw.”

 

The design reflects the client’s technology-driven practice in the materials, lighting, and detailing. The entry features zinc panels, patterned terrazzo floors, and a monumental natural steel staircase with mesh guardrails. The waiting area offers views into the design studio, across the stair to the main conference room, and up to the floor above. (There is an internal straight-run stair that provides additional access between floors.)

 

The primary circulation path on each floor is defined by a serrated metal ceiling which houses a series of water source heat pumps and acts as a return air plenum. The studios on both floors are less formal spaces, with the painted concrete structure exposed, suspended cable trays carrying power and data for the floor above, and a variety of open or glazed breakout areas, including two small meeting rooms and two partially exposed “idea rooms” per floor. Indirect lighting is used in all offices and studio spaces to minimize computer screen glare.

 

The color palette of black, grays, silvers, and natural metals is punctuated with the company logo colors, slate blue and orange, and with maple railings and desktops. Mother-of-pearl chips in the terrazzo floors (the pattern was designed in collaboration with the client) reflect a variety of accent down lights.

 

Philadelphia Magazine and Central Penn Business Journal, respectively, recognized Electronic Ink as one of the best work environments in the city and region. The company itself describes the office as a “high-tech heaven in central Philadelphia.”

 

Project Credits:

 

Red Tettemer Advertising

 

Agoos/Lovera Architects Design Team: Ted Agoos, AIA (Principal-in-Charge, Director of Design), Mike Spain, AIA (Project Architect), Ewa Pater-Jasz (Staff Architect)

General Contractor: Intech Construction

MEP/FP: Bruce E. Brooks & Associates

Structural Engineer: O’Donnell & Naccaratto

 

Electronic Ink

 

Agoos/Lovera Architects Design Team: Ted Agoos, AIA (Principal-in-Charge, Director of Design), Jim Rowe, AIA (Project Manager), Tom VanDean, AIA (Project Architect)

Construction Manager: Clemens Construction

MEP/FP: Bruce E. Brooks & Associates

Structural Engineer: O’Donnell & Naccaratto

 

All Photography: Matt Wargo Photography

 

Jorge Lovera and Ted Agoos established Agoos/Lovera Architects in 1983, after several years of working together in leading Philadelphia design firms. The firm provides services on a wide variety of project types for private and public clients in the corporate, education, civic, and community-related fields. The organizational structure of the staff of 30 allows the successful completion of complex projects with a construction cost at up to $50 million. Recent clients include: The Philadelphia Eagles, Temple University, Penn Mutual Insurance Company, Millersville University, Adelphia Graphic Systems, Lower Merion School District, Community College of Philadelphia, Qwest Cyber.Solutions, Saint Joseph’s University, and Congreso De Latinos Unidos.