Project Name. AXON Headquarters [1.0]
Project Client. AXON
Project Location. Scottsdale, Arizona
Project Type. Ground Up Build - Interior Tenant Fit Out
Project Size. 325,000 GSF
Project Budget. $145,000,000
Project Phases. Programming, Schematic Design
Programs Used. Revit, Sketchup, Enscape, Photoshop
Project Description. AXON is a mission- driven company committed to making bullets obsolete by creating future weapons that allow people to protect themselves without taking a human life. It's vision was inspired by science. The vision of this project is inspired by science fiction such as the the Star Trek Phaser and Tom Swift's Electric Rifle (sci-fi from the 1930's). Axon supplies technology that is used at almost every police agency in the U.S. Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and dozens of other countries. They are also the company that brought police body cameras to market. The goal of the new AXON Headquarters building is to do something unique in the world. Our challenge was to push beyond the boundaries of imagination for what can be done in a modern office space. We wanted to create something special, inspirational and unique.
My Role. Design concepts for central pass through, meeting rooms, break room, and employee experiences. Space planning interior office levels 01-05 - creating desired amount of meetings spaces and department support spaces with given program. Design and create a Sketchup 3D model of building interior of key spaces for VR walk through with client.
*I worked on this project for a year, then it was put on pause due to land contracts. A year later the project was re-established with a new location, modified program, and fast pace deliverable schedule. See AXON 2.0 where I take on designing the entire interior of the new HQ building.
sneak peek of a final rendition of my designed space - see below for progression of design
This project is being simultaneously designed on both the Micro and Macro levels. Micro investigations started with an empirical assessment of the individual employee; how they work, interact, socialize and experience their environment. Individual assessments let to departmental conversations of work flow, collaboration and engagement. Inter-department connections and company vision strategies were then layered in to promote community, purpose, and synergy. What resulted was a robust workplace strategy which will set the direction for the project's many environments moving forward.
Macro investigations have been centered around the concept of creating an icon. How would this facility be viewed from the community, the region, the world? How will the design convey the company's technology mission now and into the future? How do you blend a CEO's love of science fiction into formal strategies that are referential to well know icons without be derivative? How do you make a building that is both of it's time and timeless?
programming | personas
Click here to view the entire programming doc that was created with the internal AXON team.
Personas were created for each type of worker based on a survey given to all current AXON employees. A working style and desk typology was assigned to each persona. Each department was then attached to one of these personas to create a strategy for how to give each department what they needed throughout the floors. This strategy was implemented throughout the space as wherever the departments were located based on adjacencies, they received their desk typology.
department adjacencies
meeting spaces
Meeting spaces were the biggest amenity for each department. They required a variety of spaces and for them to be available throughout the floors. Below you can see an example floor showing how these meeting spaces were scattered throughout.
Below are the floorplans for level 01-05. They each identify where the departments are located and how many people per department. This is a hybrid plan that has the "pods" which act as private meeting spaces and offices. The pods are a concept AXON is creating themselves and was out of our design scope. I just had to incorporate them into the plans. These floorplan also include the many amenity spaces required by each department, and carefully located adjacent to them on their floors.
central meeting pod
To bring AXON's vision of design to the interior spaces. A key concept was creating a design element that was standard on each level. I came up with two concept ideas, the first having an inter level connection between the floors. The second, being more of a design intense structure that does not connect, but rather becomes a meeting destination within each floorplate.
option 02 | inter-level connection
vertical connection through the 4 office floors
The concept was to create a center structure that cuts through all office levels. With the connection having cut throughs to give visibility from level to level, the function of each space will be for meetings. Left, you can see my initial iterations.
Below are renditions of how this concept could look. I was working with our structural team at the time to figure out ways to move forward with this design and how much of the slab we could cut away. However, this direction was cut off as the client was made aware of cost implications for cutting the slab. The client wanted to steer away from this design for now, and focus on the other option I had created.
option 02 - no connection / design intense
With more focus on this concept, I wanted to create these central hubs that held many options for meetings. A consistent design concept and layout among floors. Varying in materiality for each wing. I generated a materiality concept for each wing - good vs. evil. These were inspired from scenery and set design from the science fiction movies.
good vs. evil
central community space
A central area on each floor, north of the open atrium, is an area for each levels' breakroom, larger meeting spaces, and department amenities. I was tasked to create two different design concepts and layouts that would be applied on each level.
option 01 - open circulation
This concept was for open exposure to the exterior. An open break room and all department spaces focused on the interior side. This enabled for a lot of natural light, and a longer span of a cohesive design, with visibility into the meeting spaces and corridors.
option 02 - closed circulation
This concept was to intensify the science fiction inspiration of AXON's vision. Creating this iconic corridor through the amenity and department focused spaces. Closed off from the exterior, becoming a secret element within the building.
