Project Update: 10 W. Broad Street
The 60,000 square-foot renovation project for ORIX Real Estate Capital (OREC) at 10 W. Broad Street is substantially complete. OREC, a financial services group, expanded their headquarters in downtown Columbus, taking over floors six to nine in the building. HAWA was hired to provide MEP designs to support this significant renovation which included an open office layout, café, MER, TR, board room, conference room, training spaces and trade rooms.
The main focal point of this project was the inclusion of an open four-floor intercommunication staircase into the design. Staircases are becoming popular in office design. The aesthetically pleasing staircase encourages employees to skip the elevator and circulate throughout the building, rather than remaining on their individual floor. HAWA provided a continuous LED light fixture to accent the staircase for a simplistic, clean look.
One of the biggest challenges was working around the existing building structure and HVAC system. The design called for exposed and ACT cloud ceilings. This made concealing VAV boxes and ductwork a high design priority to maintain the aesthetics of the space.