The interior renovation of the Swiss-based Schindler Elevator Corporation transforms an existing mundane 1970’s office building into a distinctive U.S. Headquarters that is expressive of their corporate mission. Schindler’s objective was to create an interior environment that expresses the minimal and precise design aesthetic of its engineering heritage. Its corporate mission is to safely and comfortably move and displace millions of people each day with their highly engineered elevators and escalators used throughout the world. To meet this objective, we created an interior environment that highlights the experience of movement and displacement using light and color as a way to abstractly express Schindler’s mission. Inspired by contemporary artists working with light and color to fabricate static art installations suggesting movement, our design creates a series of one point perspective ‘mise en scènes’ that explore movement and displacement with programmed space. Simple fluorescent light arches and red Swiss-flag colored surfaces establish an unadorned environment of light and color that is dynamic and minimal. Precise trim-less detailing conveys the highly engineered heritage of the Corporation. Program spaces, such as, the conference room, training center, the corporate dining room and lobby are designed as art installations that employees and visitors walk through and experience as three dimensional constructs of movement and displacement. The renovation employs a series of sustainable design measures to reduce energy consumption including: photo optic lighting controls for day light dimming, LED lighting fixtures, recyclable carpet tiles, low-e insulating replacement windows, roof mounted photovoltaic cells and low water consumption bathroom fixtures.

Photos © James D’Addio