Having outgrown their offices and shop space, Okland Construction, a 100-year-old Utah company, wanted to expand their headquarters and launch a broader conversation about the value of reducing waste, elevating craft, and demonstrating innovation, all while sticking to their $10M construction budget.

Design strategies focused on using regional materials, maximizing daylighting, and creating an engaging sense of place. The building’s existing brick was paired back, allowing for the introduction of contemporary building materials like Shou Sugi Ban wood cladding and cast-in-place concrete, specialties of Okland. Materiality also helped code the building: delineating formal from informal spaces and highlighting program hierarchy. The first floor Town Hall is clad in cast-in-place concrete, contrasting with the darker Shou Sugi Ban wood that wraps the second floor. A glass and louver system on the existing second floor allow natural light to flow into executive suites and bring levity to the building’s volume.

Intensification of color and materiality occurs at high-traffic spaces. Cherry wood, utilized as exterior window mullions, reappears
in the reception and lounge areas, contributing warmth to the organic palate. A sheltered courtyard, planted with red oak trees and lavender, maintains the connection to nature. A new atrium simplifies the connections between floors and brings daylight into subterranean rooms. Concrete and tongue-and-grove black panels create continuity throughout the interior, while primary colors define spaces. Red and blue are favored in gathering spaces, and bright yellow used to define circulation. Woven red carpets create individual vignettes accented by blue upholstery, accent wall paint and wall coverings. Blue Heath Tile is utilized to mark pantry spaces. Yellow was used sparingly, apart from the main circulation stair's concrete risers enclosed in lacquered yellow steel, indicative of construction vehicles and Okland's logo.

Together we created a healthy, inspirational workplace that connects employees with nature and one another.

Photography: Tim Griffith