Confidential Real Estate Firm Headquarters – Ada
A Midwest real estate firm’s new headquarters by OTJ Architects prioritizes collaboration through flexible design, blending local community ties and digital connectivity, with raw materials and modern technology seamlessly integrated.
The flexible new headquarters of a real estate firm rooted in the Midwest unites team members, strengthens community ties, and accelerates collaboration across the physical and digital realms.
Long noted for deep ties to the local community, our client, a rapidly growing commercial real estate and business management firm, looked to OTJ Architects to lead the design of a new headquarters that would connect a largely in-person team while enhancing event capabilities for employees, clients, and stakeholders.
Building on the strength of a long-standing relationship, OTJ guided the client’s transition from a smaller planned suite to a larger footprint better aligned with emerging operational needs. The realization of an engagement-driven, flexible work model emerged as the design’s defining objective: collaboration would need to happen everywhere, not just in dedicated meeting rooms. Accordingly, our solution empowers a locally-rooted, client-focused staff to interface across the entire floorplan as well as digitally, across markets.
Set within the context of a main‑street‑inspired mixed‑use development, this new office welcomes staff and visitors from a ground-level entry through a gradual progression across an upper floor. Architecturally, our team worked to reconcile the building’s shifting façade and irregular structural conditions to arrive at a spatial sequence that unites disparate elements into a cohesive whole. Central to the project’s articulating principle, a Town Hall-style lounge serves to connect teams and individuals across casual exchanges, client visits, and community‑oriented events. Further, meeting rooms and offices combine transparency with acoustic control so remote team members can participate seamlessly with in-person counterparts. Lastly, a state-of-the-art boardroom on the upper floor supports executive-level decision-making with the same tech-readiness found throughout the workplace.
The project’s design vernacular celebrates placemaking and authenticity: raw materials such as masonry, steel, and timber are exposed while wood floors, custom millwork, biophilic elements, and bespoke rugs that reference the region’s landscape further imbue the space with warmth. Together, our solutions – both functional and aesthetic – translate to a uniquely grounded work environment that invites in-person collaboration, facilitates digital exchanges, and resonates deeply with its occupants.
Design: OTJ Architects
Architect of Record: Dixon Architecture
General Contractor: First Companies
Photography: Hall+Merrick+McCaugherty Photographers
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