The Dallas office of international architecture, engineering, planning, interior design and program management firm LEO A DALY was recently recognized with a first place award by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Texas Chapter as part of the 2008 Design Ovation Awards. LEO A DALY was honored for the design of the Nokia Latin American Headquarters in Miami, Fla. in the category of corporate spaces over 5,000-square feet. The award was presented on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 in Dallas during the Design Ovation gala.
According to C. Mark Seiley, AIA, Vice President and Managing Principal of LEO A DALY Dallas, "Creating the new Latin American Headquarters for Nokia in Miami represented an exciting design opportunity for our team. We are truly honored to have this project recognized for its design excellence."
Completed in the fall of 2007, the 25,000 square-foot office occupies the tenth floor of an existing office building located near Miami International Airport. The project's design concept, "fire and ice" unites the geographic roots of the mobile phone communications company, which had its start in Finland, the organization's expanding presence in Latin America, and the office's physical location in South Florida. With a focus on sustainability, designers specified environmentally friendly materials throughout and maximized access to natural light.
The design for the headquarters features a number of unique elements, including:
- An elevator lobby that orients visitors to the "fire and ice" design concept with slabs of frosted, back-lit acrylic that wrap from wall to ceiling. White ceramic tile flooring and white panels carved with birch-tree patterns enhance the arctic tones of the space.
- An "Experience Center" that serves double duty as the reception area and a showcase for Nokia's Latin American product rollouts. The space includes hot tropical tones with bright oranges that wrap the reception desk and accent furniture. A sweeping solid-surfaced table connecting to the reception desk offers a display area for Nokia's latest phone and communication devices and fronts views of Miami International Airport.
- A sustainable walnut-colored wood fiber product that encases several columns and wraps its way from the floor up behind the reception desk and across the ceiling.
- A primary conference room, which is enclosed in frosted glass panels with transparent strips that expose the intense orange tones of the room's sliding doors.
- A "coffee point" break area primarily employing warm tones of the walnut-colored surfacing with expanses of intense crimson, delineating a color-coded separation from the more public spaces.
- Highly flexible workstations to accommodate short-term visitors. The "mobile office" workstations feature wheeled tables, moveable dry-erase board panels and computer docking stations.