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Temples of Industry
Omaha
Randy Brown Architects
An intriguing network of stockyard
catwalks and holding pens inspires this design
© Farshid Assassi |
For more photos click on 'photos
& drawings' above.
To see the people and products
behind this project click on 'people & products.'
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This office addition integrates executive,
administrative, and commodity exchange functions of a meatpacking
corporation. Located on the fringe of a raised stockyard and
surrounded by new development, the offices were designed to
preserve the industry’s image and enhance the community.
The offices front an active street to
the north which serves as the customer entrance to the meatpacking
plant. The addition fills a seventy-by-seventy foot void bound
by tall plant coolers to the south and west, the existing
office to the east, and a parking lot to the north.
To maintain a sense of openness, form
and volume is used to horizontally connect the entire office.
Private offices and utilitarian functions are organized in
a one-level bar that extends from the existing office to form
an "L" shape in plan. The stainless-steel clad "L"
shape mimics the mass and reflectivity of the south and west
cooler walls. In a void created by the "L," a second
horizontal volume extends from the existing office to the
new workstations.
A thick vertical maple wall provides
a centralized "veil" to store cloaks, copy and fax
equipment, and paper. A catwalk cantilevers four feet from
the "L" shape form creating a sense of suspension
in the two-story volume. The catwalk provides circulation
to the office and conference rooms.
To supplement the limited natural light
in the interior, the roof plane was carved with two skylights
running east-west along the vertical maple wall and north-south
behind the suspended conference room. Movable reflectors screen
and reflect light into the private offices, conference room,
and highlight the suspended catwalk. The tinted glass curtain
wall diffuses light for computer workstations.
Click here to see September 2001's
Record
Interiors.
Formal name
of project:
Temples of Industry
Location:
Omaha
Gross square
footage:
4,800 sq ft
Total Construction
Cost:
$1.2 million
Owner:
Henry Davis
Architect's
firm:
Randy Brown Architects
6704 Dodge St.
Omaha, NE 68132
402 551 7097
402 551 2033 fax
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