When the Dallas office of Page moved to the former banking lobby of the historic Mercantile Bank building, it was the largest adaptive reuse project in downtown Dallas in over a decade. With 34,000 square feet, the three-story open space is filled with light and provides an open, welcoming and collaborative environment. The Silver LEED-CI certified office now comprises a public reception and meeting area, open office space and conference rooms of varying sizes.
Before renovations could begin, the firm needed to address several project challenges such as developing a natural flow and visual connection through three dynamic floors; ensuring comfortable, well lit workspaces within an unusually large volume of space; improving collaboration and communication between teams and disciplines; and bringing the space up to current workplace standards while maintaining the character of an iconic 1940s building. The original street level escalators were removed and replaced with one open staircase, allowing for better use of the lobby while visually opening the space and connecting to the upper levels. The lobby, reception, a large flexible meeting room, food service and support spaces are all accommodated on the first floor. In addition, attention was paid to the visual connection to Main Street, with street side video monitors and open views.
The second floor and mezzanine levels have an original, double-height window looking out onto Main Street. This front window is in line with a similarly-sized window at the back of the space looking onto another major downtown street. This connection has become a natural zone for activities that usually require more public interaction. Informal meeting and collaboration spaces, enclosed conference and training rooms, a library and break/dining spaces are also in this zone.
On both the second floor and mezzanine levels, work spaces are at the edge of the public interaction zone. By pushing the workstations to the perimeter, employees are given space with premium lighting and appropriate acoustic levels, all while visually linking them to the city street view. Office support functions such as the print room, mail room and storage areas are all located around the elevator core, making efficient use of more internal space while still being very accessible to all employees.
The few finishes that remained from the original bank lobby were carefully reviewed and evaluated. Ultimately, original marble surrounding the elevator core, murals by the artist Millard Sheets and metal work on the original elevator doors were restored.
