PIVOT Architecture Open House

PIVOT Architecture's office (photo from PIVOT's website)

PIVOT Architecture invites everyone to see a dream realized. They’ve moved into one of their own creations, a sparkling new office for the firm in downtown Eugene's Broadway Commerce Center. PIVOT's open house event takes place on Thursday, March 15 between 5:00 and 8:00 PM. Having already visited their new digs myself, I can attest the results are worth seeing!

As I reported previously after a tour of the space under renovation, PIVOT’s generative parti was the contrast between the building’s old shell and a sculptural new insertion at the core of the 8,500 s.f. plan. Of equal import to the project’s design was PIVOT’s culture: the firm places a high premium upon collaboration, flexibility, and communication. It’s noteworthy that workstation assignments are fluid; teams for significant projects are physically grouped together to optimize group dynamics and later dissolved as staff are reassigned to other projects and corners of the office. The absence in the open plan of enclosed principals’ offices is also revealing: PIVOT gave literal form to its egalitarian organizational structure.

The design’s signature stroke is a core element housing enclosed meeting rooms, copy rooms, and the office’s entry lobby. PIVOT employed CNC milling to emboss a greatly enlarged and rasterized image of a 1982 pen and ink hand sketch by Eric Gunderson onto the core area’s cladding. Eric’s skilful sketch depicted the southern Willamette Valley from the air. PIVOT worked closely with Heartwood Carving of Eugene to drill thousands of holes of varying sizes into the medium density fiberboard (MDF) panels. The panels are powder-coated and backed with acoustic batts.

Up close, the cladding looks like nothing if not a giant chartreuse piece of Swiss cheese. Is the genesis for the holes’ motif apparent at first (or second) glance? No, but I don’t think that matters. What PIVOT’s employees get to enjoy is a stunning abstract backdrop for their daily work, representative at once of traditional media and the latest technology, derived from the handiwork of one of the firm’s founding partners.

PIVOT’s team for the design of its office space included firm principal Toby Barwood, AIA; associate Scott Clarke, AIA; interior designers Theresa Maurer and Liza Lewellen; and intern Scott Bishop. They’ve crafted a bright, open, and sustainable workspace fit for a design firm of the highest order. Join the party and see why the folks at PIVOT are shamelessly proud of their new office.

What:   PIVOT Architecture Open House

When:  Thursday, March 15, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Where: Broadway Commerce Center, corner of Willamette Street and Broadway in downtown Eugene