Orange Barrel Media Co.
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Size: 30,000 SF
Completed: 2018
Orange Barrel Media’s (OBM) new headquarters needed to fulfill two fundamental goals. It needed to first be an excellent example of sustainable design and secondly, express what their product is. The new 30,000 sq ft office fulfills these requirements.
The site selection was critical to achieving these goals. The site is located in Franklinton, one of Columbus’s oldest neighborhoods, dating back to the 1700’s, and a somewhat forgotten urban area.
The OBM project is located on a brownfield site of a concrete mixing plant that was abandoned decades ago. Since that time, the contaminated site has been a visual blight, seen by thousands of commuters every day as they pass by on State Route 315 and Interstate 670.
The project abated the site, with the design purposely and functionally incorporating three of the remaining concrete silos into the building footprint to create a dramatic triangular shape. The new construction continued to utilize concrete as a key design element of the project. Concrete building frame, expressing the columns and slabs, and concrete wallscape mural art support pylons, create a dynamic composition. A south facing solar panel array, with true south orientation, provides the majority of power needs for their business.
Orange Barrel Media’s business is creating wallscape mural advertising. Their creative building art is applied to urban structures around Columbus. The goal of this project was to express an example of their work, integrated into the building design. The glass curtainwall office structure with its reclaimed wood finishes and furnishings is designed as an outgrowth of the existing concrete silos. Towering 160 ft above grade are the three pylons, providing the framework for two 75 ft x 120-foot wallscapes that provide optimal viewing orientation to downtown and commuters. Rather than seeing residual industrial blight, thousands of commuters now see an ever-changing art display.
The design solution integrated a revitalized site, thoughtful material selections, promotion of the client’s product, and established a new Columbus landmark.
