Designing a Financial Institution's Headquarters
As Honor Credit Union rapidly expanded branch locations around Southwest Michigan, it quickly realized that it was time for their corporate headquarters to follow suit. Collective Office lent its expertise to usher the enterprise into their next chapter with a new corporate headquarters. After reviewing their branch operations, exhaustive brand studies, and growth projections, the client and design team discovered that the company was going to need much more space than anyone anticipated to propel their rapidly growing business operations into the future.
This building was designed from the ground-up to embrace transparency and views, with a deep connection to site and place. The main volume of the building floats over the rolling Southwest Michigan prairie and meets the ground with a light touch. Maximum transparency happens at the ground floor as the landscape flows through, offering its inhabitants direct connection to the natural environment around the building. The form of the building directly correlates to the various operational groups within.
The office design has changed the way we work. It allows us to move around more, people can choose to work by the windows to get sunshine. It makes it easier for us to collaborate or be more flexible.”
We designed 2 primary panels: the typical and a corner, to skin the majority of this building. This panel design allowed the precast panels to be very fast and efficient and the glazing to follow suite.
Using a single repeating window unit allows for efficiency in both cost and construction while also maximizing access to natural light.
What we absolutely loved about this building is its extreme economy of means, its honesty, and its simplicity.”
Because the needs of the client were so large, the building achieves enormous impact with very economical means. The exterior is made of precast concrete panels with integral brick veneer, making for a quick and easy installation. Because of its modular nature, the majority of the facade can be assembled with only 2 primary panels. The oversized window openings make for a powerful interior experience and enhance the connection to nature. This playful window arrangement also required less glazing than a traditional ribbon window, and therefore less cost, with greater visual impact.
Actively engaging in the design process not only gave the client a functional new headquarters, they were able to improve the working lives of their employees through architecture. By taking a forward looking approach, Honor Credit Union and Collective Office were able to achieve a striking corporate headquarters building ready to meet the company’s needs for years to come as their business continues to grow.
