LAGA HQ

Lipson Alport Glass & Associates Headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois by Valerio DeWalt Train Associates, 2004

Marketing and branding firm Lipson Alport Glass & Associates renovated an existing one-story structure in Northbrook - a North Shore suburb twenty miles from downtown Chicago - into their headquarters. Chicago architect Valerio DeWalt Train Associates' design adds a two-story bar beside the old building, also adding a new studio and renovating the existing into studios and support facilities.

With nearby access to - and visibility from - the Edens Expressway, the building recalls one of the architect's most well-known buildings, the 3Com Headquarters in northwest-suburban Rolling Meadows which is situated at the elbow of Highway 290 and the Northwest Tollway. In a recent Chicago Tribune article by architecture critic Blair Kamin, designer Joe Valerio refers to these buildings as "rear-view mirror buildings", referring to the response of drivers as they see an unfamiliar-looking building on the side of the road. But the design in Northbrook exhibits a restraint that is missing in Rolling Meadows, possibly making the former a better building.

The most striking characteristic of the design is seen in the image at left, the 50-foot cantilever over the main entry and drop-off. Providing shelter and a memorable experience, the cantilever reverses expectations, perching a solid mass above a transparent, glass box instead of the opposite. Treating the whole upper floor as a truss, the effect is reminiscent of MVRDV's WoZoCo Housing in its favor of sculptural treatment of the mass over a structural or tectonic treatment, separating the firm from the Miesian tradition favored by some Chicago architects, but at the sake of finding an appropriate design solution to the client's wants and needs.

Blair Kamin's article also praises the interiors and the courtyard that's created by closing off the "U" of the existing building with the new mass. Artificial and natural light seem to mingle in the mixture of transparent and opaque workspaces throughout the project, apparent in the lobby image at left.
Growing up in Northbrook, I can say that few contemporary buildings exist that illicit any "rear-view mirror" looks by passersby. So it's refreshing to see architecture there that starts from the typical suburban bland and ends up with a unique design statement.