GKV Architects' recent project was selected as Creative Office Honoree for the Interior Design Best of Year Awards 2022.

Located in downtown Easton, Pennsylvania, GKV transformed the interior of a former bowling alley into a 55,000-square-foot studio, testing, and office space for a digital media magazine company. This masonry building was discovered open to the elements but presented the raw bones for future vertical enlargement. It developed into a home for several magazine brands providing a dramatic physical transformation on this prominent site accompanying new economic and employment opportunities for the local community. 

About The Interior Design For This Project

GKV Architects' design includes a multipurpose gathering and museum space for marketing product launches and community events. Other functions include a full bicycle workshop to assemble products for review and testing on the neighboring trails and roads, photo studios, open lounge/pantry areas, open sit-to-stand workstations, other collaboration spaces, and a gritty exterior alley for testing outdoor products, branding, and photos. The anticipation is to create compelling magazine content throughout the facility. 

The inspiration for the interior finish selection came from the industrial context. GKV selected durable exterior products that would age and wear with use and develop a patina. An industrial language is established with exposed masonry and steel structural elements, building services, polished concrete floors, and exposed brick walls from the original building. It is an active space featuring a running and bike track and will inevitably be a new focal point for athletes and curious locals alike.

Dramatic black furniture and graphic lighting complemented this direction. As a counterpoint to these hard surfaces, moss feature panels, cork tile wall paneling, and crafted reclaimed structural timber furniture elements connect to the natural environment. New windows and terrace doors helped to maximize natural light and connection to the exterior. GKV also specified low VOC finishes throughout to ensure a healthy workspace.

Critically the space needed to be highly flexible to allow transformation for digital media product creation, special events, testing, and futureproofing for the evolution of the magazines in the years to come. Workstations were designed for hoteling, untethered with minimal storage supplemented with remote lockers, and can be easily reconfigured along utility walls with changing needs. Additionally, storage on wheels enables spaces to be simply modified. 

Another key objective was to bring the outdoors inside. It was achieved by replacing windows, adding a new terrace with access to a gritty rear yard, inserting a playful racetrack marking the primary circulation, and using exterior building materials. The exterior brick walls were stripped and exposed, and metal roofing panels clad the workshop walls. Exposed structural concrete floors were polished and sealed, and black-honed countertops with Shou Sugi Ban wood walls in the pantry area complemented this industrial tone.  

The Interior Design Best of Year Awards 2022 celebrates the winners and honorees of the 17th annual Best of Year Awards. 1,077 interior design projects were submitted from 590 design firms, ranging from 36 countries around the globe. GKV Architects was an honoree in the Creative Office category for our recent project for a digital media magazine company. Click here to view the list of winners and honorees.