Ellsworth Motor Freight Lines, a nationwide trucking company, purchased an abandoned 1910 vintage former hotel in downtown Tulsa to be restored and remodeled into its corporate headquarters. The completed design utilizes various means of transparency to maximize the sense of openness in the small shotgun spaces, and to echo the company policy of open and transparent communications. Perimeter walls are lined with glass partitioned management offices that open to the central work cubicles. Glass block is alternately used as a privacy screen, yet still allowing natural light and a sense of openness. The original load bearing masonry walls are exposed as a reminder of the history of the building. Ornate Neoclassical columns are inserted to further emphasize the building’s beginnings and to serve as sculptural punctuation.
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