OlsenBeal Addition

Lindon, Utah
A few weeks ago I was approached by a good friend and contractor, Cody Trotter, to help him on a project that he was going after. The owners were debating on whether or not to expand their offices. Cody and I collaborated together and I quickly drew up some preliminary sketches for Cody to present. When Cody walked in they were pretty dead set on not doing the addition, but after a few minutes of looking over the renderings, and I am sure an excellent sales job by Cody, they decided to move forward.

The past couple of weeks have been great working with Cody, the owners and the engineers to make sure everything comes together and that the design is not compromised - in fact it has only improved. OlsenBeal is a company of engineers and metal fabricators - specializing in bridgework and wind turbines. Part of the inspiration for the design came early on when one of the owners said, "We are metal workers, we don't build with wood!" This stuck with me, resulting in an architectural expression came from a desire to "show off" the metal and the business of OlsenBeal. This generated an aesthetic of exposed wide flange beams, corrugated steel and a corten steel rainscreen. To accent the fenestrations we are using welded corten steel boxes that protrude from the facade adding depth as well as being referential to the corten tower. The entry is a voided space that begins to reveal the inner workings of the office and takes advantage of the natural daylighting opportunities on the site. The brick work is referential of old warehouses as well as being a design requirement from the city. The plans and engineering should be done in the next couple of weeks and construction will begin shortly after. I am really looking forward to it.