Interview about Matrix Beyond Bronze Office Building Renovation, winner of the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award 2025
This project transforms the modernist Seagram Building into a future workplace, prioritizing human well being and environmental responsibility while preserving its iconic bronze facade. A new double skin structure enhances energy performance, within which the added structures define adaptable zones, serving as partitions and storages that reshape the open plan layout. Addressing post-pandemic workplace needs, this intervention revitalizes the Seagram Building, reestablishing its relevance through a renewed internal matrix.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThe 45-degree grid emerged as a counterpoint to the original orthogonal order of the Seagram Building. While the exterior bronze façade remains untouched, this internal shift subtly alters how users move and perceive space. The new geometry allows for varied spatial conditions — diagonal vistas, asymmetric zones, and unexpected alignments — which reflect the diversity of today’s workplace culture. Heritage is respected, but not frozen. Instead of opposing the original, the new grid folds around it, creating a quiet but confident spatial dialogue.
The pairing of CLT and high-performance glazing emerged from the need to balance natural warmth with technical performance. CLT introduces a tactile, biophilic quality to the interior, countering the building’s historically austere character. When paired with high-performance glazing, the result is a façade system that insulates thermally, diffuses light gently, and dampens urban noise — all while reducing energy consumption. The timber panels help regulate indoor humidity and provide visual softness, enhancing user comfort, while the glass maintains transparency and passive solar benefits. Together, these materials create a breathable, responsive envelope that elevates both environmental performance and spatial quality.
These modular units operate as a flexible framework for zoning and privacy. Rather than relying on traditional enclosed offices, the partitions allow for agile reconfiguration of workspaces without compromising the building’s visual order. Their form and finish align with the original architectural language, while their function supports new behavioral patterns — quiet focus, semi-private calls, spontaneous meetings. Aesthetics and utility are reconciled through modular logic.
Triangular geometries were introduced to interrupt the regularity of the grid, forming pockets of calm within the workplace. These wellness spaces were positioned where light, sound, and flow could be optimized for restorative use. Angled corners naturally create more intimate enclosures, and in this case, they serve as zones for meditation, informal stretching, or even quiet reflection. The spatial irregularity signals a shift in tempo — a visual and experiential cue for stepping out of task-driven routines. Research indicates that access to diverse spatial typologies can reduce stress and increase overall focus, and these wellness nodes offer precisely that.
Insights from spatial psychology were translated into a system of thresholds that signal different cognitive modes. Instead of traditional walls, subtle spatial cues — such as ceiling height changes, material transitions, or filtered light — define zones of focus or collaboration. Structured boundaries were maintained without full enclosure, encouraging concentration without isolation. Movement through the space follows a gentle choreography that respects individual control over sensory input. By supporting visual legibility and behavioral flexibility, the layout fosters a sense of agency and reduces cognitive fatigue — both essential to sustained attention and effective work.
Augmented and mixed reality tools were designed as invisible interfaces, embedded within the architectural fabric. Smart surfaces, motion-tracked environments, and spatially responsive projection zones allow remote and in-person participants to share the same sense of presence. Unlike isolated conference rooms or clunky virtual integrations, this system treats hybrid work as a continuum. Collaboration happens across layers — physical, virtual, and ambient — without disruption to the spatial narrative.
Modernizing the mechanical systems within a historic structure required extreme precision. The challenge lay in integrating high-efficiency HVAC, lighting, and control systems without disturbing the building’s celebrated proportions or material character. Ceiling voids were shallow, and visible interventions risked compromising the original aesthetic. To overcome this, equipment was miniaturized and re-routed through concealed vertical chases and the interstitial cavity created by the new structural overlay. Custom diffusers and lighting fixtures were designed to echo the language of the original interiors while meeting contemporary performance standards. The outcome preserves visual integrity while delivering a vastly improved environmental footprint.
This interstitial space functions as a hybrid environmental and programmatic zone. Thermally, it acts as a buffer, reducing heat gain and loss between the new interior envelope and the existing façade. Mechanically, it conceals infrastructure — from ductwork and wiring to acoustic baffles — streamlining the occupied space. Programmatically, it enables subtle spatial interventions: niches, built-in seating, ambient lighting, and discreet access panels. By decoupling the structural systems, the design preserves historical fabric while enabling future upgrades. This layered approach also increases the building’s resilience, allowing for phased adaptations without requiring major structural disruption.
The open plan was reinterpreted as a series of soft zones rather than hard boundaries. Visual continuity is maintained through open sightlines, but acoustic and sensory zones create separation without division. Shared hubs like kitchens or project tables become gravity points that stitch teams together. The layout encourages movement, informal collision, and adaptable use — all while preserving a coherent spatial language grounded in the building’s historic proportions.
Matrix Beyond Bronze offers a new lens for engaging with mid-century modern buildings. Rather than defaulting to either preservation or demolition, the project demonstrates a third path: precise layering, reversible adaptation, and contextual recalibration. This approach recognizes embodied energy as a design asset, not a burden. As cities evolve, the techniques developed here — from internalized grids to hybridized infrastructure — can serve as a blueprint for updating iconic structures with humility and imagination.
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