Society of the Plastics Industry Offices – Washington DC
Wingate Hughes Architects has designed the new offices of the Society of the Plastics Industry located in Washington DC.
Wingate Hughes Architects’ inventive Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) design utilizes mostly plastics in the 18,000 square-foot headquarters on K Street in Washington, DC. Gavin Bowie and Gavin Daniels’, founding co-principals of Wingate Hughes, frequently pioneer projects with grand visions similar to SPI’s plastics design. SPI is the plastics industry trade association representing the third largest manufacturing industry in the United States. Wingate Hughes practices a philosophy to defy convention, listens to their clients’ imaginative ideas and translates ideas into original and sustainable designs that are functional and, at times, fantastical. Bill Carteaux, CEO of SPI, wanted the space to virtually reflect the plastics industry from start to finish and show plastics’ endless possibilities. Wingate Hughes clear understanding of the client’s goals was the key to pulling their vision through the design. The firm’s approach was to use the plastic as itself and use absolutely no tricks or clichés. Wingate Hughes was true to the material.
The SPI design concept, in addition to embracing plastic, mirrors the process of manufacturing plastics. The design also symbolizes the clean quality control of the plastics industry while utilizing as many plastic products as possible. Wingate Hughes designed SPI’s main conference room to look like a factory. The idea is that you can walk through the entire SPI space and know and feel the (plastics) industry. Additionally, SPI’s private offices break away from the trend of open-office floor plans, and every office has side lights made with Lexan and clear acrylic – not glass. The centrally located café offers opportunities for ad hoc conversations with colleagues. Completing the ambiance, arriving visitors are greeted with white noise recorded from factories that make and produce plastic and super graphics along the entrance walls showcasing an actual factory floor with machines extruding plastic.
Design: Wingate Hughes Architects
Design team: Gavin Daniels, Gavin Bowie, Natalie Hnatiw
Photography: Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
