Compromising with clients without compromising design.

With design magazines making a huge splash on newsstands along with the influx of design and makeover television programming over the past decade, design has grown from a new trend to a part of pop-culture.

Today, even some of the top decision makers at a variety of corporations are taking a closer look and are becoming more involved in the design and feel they want for their office space. Many of these executives are bringing more and more creative requests to their designers during initial planning. One of our biggest challenges as designers is taking all these ideas and concepts and fabricating a consistent design that incorporates the client's wants and needs.

Often times a client's request is to create a light and airy space, but when there are no or limited windows to work with, our job as designers is to produce innovative alternatives to give the feel of "light and airy" without deconstructing the building structure.

The North America Headquarters and Global Solutions Practice for Mediaedge:cia, a global communication planning and implementation agency, recently commissioned HOK New York to redesign one of the six floors it occupies in an office building located in Midtown Manhattan.

The international company was experiencing tremendous growth at the time and needed to expand its presence in the building. The company requested a loft-like, Chelsea gallery look for their office, but the existing space had very little natural light and low ceilings, making it difficult to achieve without major construction. Furthermore, obtrusive columns in an off the grid configuration made planning the work space a challenge.

In addition to reconfiguring workstations for 100 employees which resulted in increased functionality and productivity, the company wanted to create a presentation center and new meeting rooms in different sizes and set-ups, giving presenters flexibility for their audience and materials. By incorporating creative lighting features, lowering panels at each workstation and removing the ceiling panels for increased height, HOK was able to achieve the look of openness while maintaining the original structure.

Because the floor that we redesigned for Mediaedge:cia gets the most foot traffic from potential clients, it was important for HOK to choreograph a new space that would showcase the firm's multi-faceted services and their brand while not creating the traditional "showroom" experience. In addition, a Parisian cafe and modified English phone booths were designed as employee break areas to draw attention to their international side of business.

The challenges faced by today's designers go beyond the traditional creation of something new and fresh for the client. More than ever before as pop-culture promotes good design for better living and working environments, today clients are more savvy and inquisitive about the their space's potential.

The designer should embrace these opportunities as a true partnership to blurring the long-established boundary line of client and designer.

The result of this union will certainly meet the client's wishes and suffice the designer's creation. Perhaps by chance something new and wonderful will emerge out of this collective journey.

IKE CHEUNG, ASSOCIATE, LEED AP, HOK NEW YORK'S INTERIORS GROUP