A new modern building designed by Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio looks to create a new concept in banking that forgoes traditional tellers behind a counter and replaces them with more communal space with mobile financial advisers available to assist both bank clients and non-clients.
The new two-story, 8,400-sf branch, dubbed the Capital One Café, is located at the intersection of 4th and Broadway in downtown Santa Monica. It was designed so the corner was opened up and made into an indoor-outdoor space separated by folding doors.
Photo courtesy of Studio J Marketing.
The first and second floors along the Broadway elevation are primarily composed of clear anodized low-glazed aluminum windows with fixed powder-coated white aluminum louvers that cover the windows. The rear portion of the building and the upper portion of the 4th Street elevation are composed of glossy winter white glazed brick tiles. The ground level of the 4th Street elevation is finished with fixed clear anodized low-glazed aluminum windows and an entry swing door that leads into a vestibule area.
Visitors enter via an entry plaza that is set about nine feet from the existing sidewalk. The ground floor is fully transparent while the rest of the building incorporates partially screened louvers and solid walls clad in glazed brick tiles
Photo courtesy of Studio J Marketing.
The interior was designed by IA Interior Architects and presents an open, naturally lit space. At one end of the lobby is the café, which serves Peet’s Coffee and pastries. The café is surrounded by a variety of seating and communal workspace options. At the other end of the lobby is where customers can find the Capital One employees. Private consultations can take place in small rooms with sliding doors located at the end of the lobby behind the employees. Conference rooms that can be reserved by non-profits and other organizations are also available.
Photo courtesy of Studio J Marketing.
The goal of the design was to create a destination that becomes a regular fixture in people’s lives outside of their homes and workplaces, according to Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio.
Photo courtesy of Studio J Marketing.
Related Stories
| Oct 31, 2014
Dubai plans world’s next tallest towers
Emaar Properties has unveiled plans for a new project containing two towers that will top the charts in height, making them the world’s tallest towers once completed.
| Oct 15, 2014
Final touches make 432 Park Avenue tower second tallest in New York City
Concrete has been poured for the final floors of the residential high-rise at 432 Park Avenue in New York City, making it the city’s second-tallest building and the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere.
| Oct 6, 2014
Moshe Safdie: Skyscrapers lead to erosion of urban connectivity
The 76-year-old architect sees skyscrapers and the privatization of public space to be the most problematic parts of modern city design.
| Sep 23, 2014
Cloud-shaped skyscraper complex wins Shenzhen Bay Super City design competition
Forget the cubist, clinical, glass and concrete jungle of today's financial districts. Shenzhen's new plan features a complex of cloud-shaped skyscrapers connected to one another with sloping bridges.
| Sep 15, 2014
Argentina reveals plans for Latin America’s tallest structure
Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announces the winning design by MRA+A Álvarez | Bernabó | Sabatini for the capital's new miexed use tower.
| Sep 5, 2014
First Look: Zaha Hadid's Grace on Coronation towers in Australia
Zaha Hadid's latest project in Australia is a complex of three, tapered residential high-rises that have expansive grounds to provide the surrounding community unobstructed views and access to the town's waterfront.
| Aug 19, 2014
Goettsch Partners unveils design for mega mixed-use development in Shenzhen [slideshow]
The overall design concept is of a complex of textured buildings that would differentiate from the surrounding blue-glass buildings of Shenzhen.
| Aug 18, 2014
SPARK’s newly unveiled mixed-use development references China's flowing hillscape
Architecture firm SPARK recently finished a design for a new development in Shenzhen. The 770,700 square-foot mixed-use structure's design mimics the hilly landscape of the site's locale.
| Jul 17, 2014
A new, vibrant waterfront for the capital
Plans to improve Washington D.C.'s Potomac River waterfront by Maine Ave. have been discussed for years. Finally, The Wharf has started its first phase of construction.
| Jul 17, 2014
A high-rise with outdoor, vertical community space? It's possible! [slideshow]
Danish design firm C.F. Møller has developed a novel way to increase community space without compromising privacy or indoor space.