Arent
Fox, a dynamic and diversified firm, has over 300 attorneys in
Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles. STUDIOS Architecture
was retained for a strategic programming and site search investigation
of Arent Fox’s D.C. headquarters office, which had occupied the same
space for over twenty years at Connecticut Avenue and L Street, N.W.
Following this investigation and real estate discussion, Arent Fox chose
to move to a new development at 1000 Connecticut Avenue. STUDIOS
participated in the negotiations with the development team to
incorporate design modifications to the base building necessary to
establish a build to suit facility for Arent Fox’s long-term occupancy.STUDIOS
created a design that brings together the variety of the program
elements and specific functional and cultural needs of Arent Fox into a
cohesive office environment. Key elements include: formal reception
space with physical and visual connection to building lobby; visitor
focused conference center on a prominent corner of the floorplate;
tiered seating auditorium within a generous spatial volume; multiple
break-out areas for pre-function, casual and formal reception/social
events; slab openings on typical office floors for visual connections
among the multiple floors occupied.The design breaks down the
distinction between the offices on the primes sides of the building and
those that are not by visually opening up the interior spaces and
establishing a draw towards the non-prime side of the floor for
collaboration and support functions. These open work areas are intended
to be flexible areas capable of supporting the departments or law firm
practice support functions, including litigation and case management.