The challenge: to activate a building’s previously closed off ground level with engaging and enticing design that gives life back to the streetscape.

When the developers Hullmark purchased the four-level 100 Broadview, they got a building whose lower two storeys were devoted to self-storage, and which faced the street with a wall of precast concrete. Negotiating within a limited physical framework, and taking into account Hullmark’s strategy of maximizing return from existing building stock, led to a creative approach. Planning to attract new-economy tenants to four storeys of renovated office space, the design began by cutting back the second storey slab to create a double-height lobby, then replacing the precast façade with 1.5 storeys of glazing. The new lobby is a ‘building within a building’, a vividly dynamic space criss-crossed by ramps – a product of Quadrangle’s industry-leading expertise in Universal Design. With design features like exposed mushroom capitals and bold wayfinding signage, the remade 100 Broadview asserts the vitality of exciting design for tenants and pedestrians alike.