PORTFOLIO

When two insurance companies merged to form HAWK Advisers, they hired CIRCLE to improve the design for their 4,500 square foot office space in Downtown Roanoke. Since construction was already underway, the challenge was to create open workstations and improve the layout and feel of the reception area, break room, and conference room – without radically changing the floor plan. They also wanted the design to showcase Roanoke’s regionalism and appeal to the emerging millennial workforce.

We connected the break room to the conference room with an aluminum garage door with glass to bring natural light deeper into a space that previously had none. The tables in the conference room can be reconfigured to create one large conference table, a classroom setting, or workgroups. We rotated the receptionist desk 180 degrees to the door for a hospitality feel and to draw attention to the signage wall from the street, providing built-in advertising.

We created individual workstations as well as collaborative spaces with built-in sofas. Over the workstations we suspended a backlit map of Roanoke. The main workspace features a floor to ceiling MDF slatted wall, inspired by the vast railroad tracks passing through downtown. A palette of green accent colors, a 10’ tall tree graphic, black slate tile, and natural wood (reclaimed from Virginia structures) evoke imagery of nature and Roanoke’s commitment to its greenway through the city.