JLG was retained by Bismarck Partners to design a new 80,000 SF office building for KLJ, a growing civil engineering firm headquartered in Bismarck, ND. When asked how the building should represent KLJ, the client offered words like “conservative, stable, substantial, and trustworthy.”
As a solution to fuse their values, JLG proposed a design that would offer beauty and permanence through the use of simplistic utility materials representative of KLJ’s civil engineering core – concrete, glass, and steel. Programmed to accommodate 400 staff, JLG worked with KLJ to re-think the corporate workplace, focusing on a collaborative office environment with workspace options and common space amenities. The visionary leaders at KLJ recognized the value in designating square footage to shared space in the form of cafés, smart rooms, and other employee wellness-focused amenities.
While the plan layout was in direct response to this building program and the site, the shape of the site accommodated an ideal east-west orientation for both daylight and solar control. JLG organized the building into two “office boxes” along this axis, connected with a north-south “circulation and collaboration box”. As the plan continued to develop in more detail, the simplicity of this concept remained consistent throughout the design. Each of the boxes is 50 feet deep with windows on the north and south faces, offering views and daylight throughout the floor plate.
While allowing for customization for workgroup needs, the layout of each of the floor plates is consistent to allow for maximum flexibility. This future-driven design is KLJ’s engineering, reimagined – prepared for untethered expansion, built on a solid foundation of planning with logical and innovative translation.
