A new branch banking facility is designed for a small locally owned, community based bank in Mountain Grove, Missouri. Located on Old Hwy 60, it offers a new building that is comfortable in its context of brick and wood frame buildings and yet challenges the status quo for light and transparency. The location allows the bank to separate customer services located at this facility from the administrative functions located at its corporate headquarters on the nearby historic square.
The bank president and board requested that the facility advertise the organization’s values of transparency, precision and technical capability with its strong foundation of community banking and local relationships. The plan is organized by a hovering “super-canopy” that shelters drive thru, tellers, walk up lobby and building entrance in one simple form. The super-canopy’s soffit of western red cedar and playful lighting layout enlivens the lobby and extends its warm welcome to the exterior space. The heightened transparency improves customer relationships and security, as tellers are able to make eye contact before visitors even enter the vestibule. This transparency contrasts strongly with typical bank buildings that are turned inward with small window openings. This new branch suggests an optimistic future for the community and the strong role this banking organization will play.
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