Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 101

PHOTOGRAPHY: NICOLE FRANZEN

Setting the stage for a new standard of shared spaces within a corporate
skyscraper, Atelier Cho Thompson embraced the inclinations of a modern
workforce to transform the 8,500-square-foot lobby of 100 Summer Street
in downtown Boston. Spearheaded by Christina Cho Yoo, AIA, IIDA, and Ming
Thompson, AIA, IIDA, the San Francisco- and New Haven, Connecticut-based
multidisciplinary design firm approached the renovation with an intrinsic
understanding of how the shifting landscape of the workplace necessitates
adaptations to supporting spaces as well.
Debuting on Boston's skyline in 1974, the marquee high-rise was constructed
by architect Welton Becket with 32 floors to offer over one million square feet of
office space. Despite a recent renovation, the lobby's spatial paradigm had quickly
become outdated, recalls Thompson: "It was a vast and empty space with a few
clusters of furniture and a large and unwelcoming security desk front and center.
The space was designed for a different era of work-one where workers were
confined to offices, and the lobby was meant to be only a liminal space between city
and office." The redesign was needed to reflect the unfolding ideals of the building's
changing pool of tenants, which had progressively evolved from white-shoe law
firms and banks to technology and coworking companies. Approached by real
estate investment company EQ Office, Atelier Cho Thompson acted on its client's
ambitions to reimagine the lobby as a vibrant respite that reflects the wayfaring
nature of an evolving workforce. "Work takes place everywhere," says Thompson.
"The in-between spaces of buildings-corridors, amenities suites, lobbies-
are becoming rich social sites for collaboration."
In addition to an awareness of the nomadic nature of modern work,
an understanding of the blurring boundaries between the residential, hospitality,
and workplace sectors shaped the redesign. The team took advantage of several
focal points in the lobby's preexisting material palette-including the white
Calacatta marble floor boasting an intricate triangular pattern-while they repositioned
others to fit the refresh, such as the original glossy cherry wall paneling, which
they replaced with a complex system of wall panels crafted in matte natural walnut.
Celebrating the heritage of Boston's historical landscape, the lobby's rich and
inviting materiality is also distinguished by blackened steel, natural brass, marble,
stone, white concrete, mohair, and wool.
A host of refined architectural elements are employed to delineate four
distinct zones-dubbed Visit, Perch, Linger, and Collaborate-that accommodate
different work styles at a range of scales. "While thousands of visitors a day traverse
this space, moving like a great river from the street into the tower, we created each
of these zones as an eddy to capture visitors for different uses," Thompson says.
The security station has been shifted away from the main circulation area in the
Visit zone, which evokes the exuberance of an elegant hotel reception as it invites
guests to announce their entrance at a low and luxurious marble-accented
desk, which cleverly masks the fastidious architectural feat needed to condense
a complex nest of equipment. Stretching along the primary path of travel, Perch
orients an elongated marble bar as a touchdown point for visitors as they

navigate the space. Enabling short visits for intimate groups, Linger comprises
soft seating options, while larger assemblies can gather for extended stays at
Collaborate, which features cozy walnut millwork booths, a library table, shelves,
and nooks tucked into panelized walls. Lighting is raised gradually within each
successive zone to foster a grander aesthetic across the interior, while furniture
is selected to reinforce each zone's primary function. "These details create a
balanced dichotomy between rationality and exuberance, between grand gestures
and intimate intricacies, between concise formal logic and sophisticated
ornament," Thompson says. -HAYLEY ARSENAULT

P RO J E C T C R E DI TS

Architect and interior designer Atelier
Cho Thompson
Atelier Cho Thompson project team
Emilia Baker; Christina Cho Yoo, AIA, IIDA;
Ming Thompson, IIDA, AIA
Contractor Structure Tone
Interior design and furnishings
consultant Shannon Dunn, Studio
Shannon Dunn
Lighting consultant Dan Weissman,
AIA, Lam Partners
Engineering WB Engineers
Graphics Atelier Cho Thompson
S E L E C T E D S OU RC E S

Wallcoverings Butler Architectural
Woodworking (custom wood millwork
and steel panels); Spinneybeck (leather);
Benjamin Moore (paint); Concrete LCDA
(concrete panels); Cle Tile (tile)
Flooring Interface; Shaw (carpet/carpet
tile); Steven King (rugs)
Lighting Liteline; Starfire; Interlux;
Lumini; Amerlux; Jesco (recessed
lighting); Custom Katy Skelton Lighting
(pendants/chandeliers)
Doors Spaceworks (doors, hardware)
Seating Lawson Fenning;
Grazia and Co; Simon James; Egg
Collective; TRNK; Luteca Eugenio;
Uhuru (lounge/reception seating)
contract

Tables Custom by Butler Architectural
Woodworking (conference tables and
reception desk); Fort Standard; Debra
Folz; Gubi; Kelly Wearstler; Room & Board
(side tables)
Architectural/custom woodworking
Butler Architectural Woodworking
Planters, accessories Ferm Living;
Menu; Light + Ladder; Cym Warkov; Ank;
B.Zippy; CB2; Pat Kim
Signage (fabricator) Cadwell Sign
Contract Magazine - January 2020

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