Photography by Philip Prowse

Kopp Investment Advisors commissioned MS&R to provide fully-custom architectural and interior services in a tenant improvement space. The design of this 22,500 square-foot corporate headquarters for a strategic, portfolio investment firm, responds to several practical and symbolic goals. The four primary corporate functions (stock trading, portfolio management, client services, and corporate giving) are housed in the four quadrants of the leasehold floor space. Custom teamwork areas reflect the distinctions of these corporate functions. For the traders, simultaneous access to several electronic reporting sources (on video monitors) and constant interaction with each other led to "command central." For the portfolio managers, a conference room that readily accommodated both conventional local and interactive teleconferencing meetings required that their room respond quickly to either table or monitor oriented formats. For client services and corporate giving, more intimate (2-5 person) meetings are the norm. All are encircled by a band of private offices that balance common attributes (door, light, interior window, and stone sill) with changing dimensions. The effect is a subtle play between repetition and variation; conveying a unified, democratic whole, yet no two offices are identical. The bowed corridors help achieve this balance by unifying as one, yet forcing mutations. The extensive use of interior windows and glazed walls underscores the desire to foster an open and interactive corporate culture. When privacy is called for, curtains or screens can be drawn to mediate.

On the symbolic side, it was significant to discover that the founder of the company, Lee Kopp, had an appreciation of finely crafted, wood boats that grew from his service as a young man in the navy. Many of our developed forms and details stem from our study of this tradition. From the overall plan (bowed) to the actual materials used (teak & sail fabric), and from the most public reception desk to the most private trading room, nautical qualities informed the design. We strove to keep these references subtle enough to honor both their larger aesthetic corporate role yet distinct enough to uniquely honor its founder.