Parker Poe Charlotte Headquarters

Charlotte

Award of Merit

CONTRACTOR: Balfour Beatty

OWNER: Newmark Knight & Frank

LEAD DESIGN FIRM: Gensler

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Stewart Engineering

MEP ENGINEER: Barrett, Woodyard & Associates Inc.


Designed by Gensler, this three-floor upfit was created with agility and adaptability in mind. Straying from the traditional office hierarchy model, the design adopts a uniform office structure where all offices occupy identical dimensions. Additionally, the final office configuration allows for easily maintained meeting rooms and shared spaces that enable communication and collaboration. To decrease the overall footprint, Parker Poe elected to eliminate a designated library space from the new headquarters. To store relevant texts, the team instead installed console tables—that double as stealth storage—that were located in previously underutilized hallway space. Together, these design elections saved Parker Poe 25% of their corporate footprint.

While under construction, Balfour Beatty coordinated extensively with two other general contractors working on separate projects in the same shared space. The COVID-19 pandemic also slowed delivery of key materials from Europe, Canada and domestically. Nevertheless, the team successfully mitigated any time lost due to late materials and delivered the project two weeks early.