The 12,000-square-foot headquarters of an internationally recognized landscape architecture firm occupies a repurposed warehouse near San Francisco Bay, originally part of a World War II Liberty shipbuilding facility. Ojanen Chiou Architects reimagined the building’s outdated 1980s lobby to better reflect the firm’s identity and its emphasis on the relationship between landscape and architecture.

COR-TEN steel becomes the defining element of the renovation. Selected for its warm, weathered character and connection to the site’s industrial history, a continuous series of steel panels leads visitors from the exterior arrival area through the lobby and into the studio. Carefully engineered connections give the substantial steel elements an unexpected sense of lightness.

Translucent and clear glass complement the steel, allowing natural light to penetrate deep into the interior while providing varying degrees of transparency and privacy between public and work areas. A restrained palette of surrounding materials emphasizes the color, texture, and geometry of the weathering steel.

The intervention establishes a stronger connection between landscape, architecture, and material, creating a contemporary identity for the workplace while acknowledging the building’s industrial and maritime past.