The new 52,000 sf Terminix corporate office building and warehouse brings the company’s operations together in one central hub. Prior to construction of the new facility, Terminix’s departments were scattered across several aging buildings. Employees shared windowless offices with little to no daylight. Consolidating space provided the opportunity for the company to shift its workplace culture, and design enhances and supports that shift. Key design drivers included imbuing each department with a sense of individuality, fostering collaboration through the use of shared spaces, and providing more people with access to daylight and outside views.

A central angled mass groups shared spaces at the heart of the building, all in close proximity to the departments housed in adjacent wings. Chance encounters and intentional meetings in these spaces foster the collaborative spirit that underpins healthy workplace culture. The angled mass also contains the building’s tall public atrium and monumental stair, a large dividable training room, and an expansive break room on the first floor, as well as a more private break room on the second floor. A grand clerestory projects above, providing natural light to the break room on the second floor and deep into the interior of the first-floor corridor. Capitalizing on the site’s dimensions and frontage, the building’s orientation maximizes solar pathways to draw natural light deep into the interior throughout the day. Rectangular wings on either side of the central angled mass contain most of the building’s square footage, housing executive offices, open work areas, and small conference rooms. Open office workstations ensure more people benefit from the building’s light, bright, open workspace.

The new building’s exterior incorporates the material palette the campus buildings it replaced. The beige brick, gray and black metal panels, and black storefront are elements of the old buildings replicated in the new. Arranged in a more unique and modern expression, their new use simultaneously evokes the familiarity and comfort of the company’s past and the hope and excitement of its future. A large, folded plane element emphasizes the building’s southeast corner, showcasing the series of windows that wrap the corner uninterrupted. A black metal-clad vestibule with a wood-look aluminum cladding at the main entry doors merges the exterior and interior material palette.

Interior details celebrate the Terminix brand and transcend the typical office experience. Wood stair treads, railing cap, and ceiling details provide the atrium a sense of warmth, and an oversize suspended square light fixture draws attention to the ceiling height. A double-height, porcelain-clad feature wall provides a backdrop to the stair. This wall also allows supports illuminated signage visible from the adjacent highway through the atrium curtainwall. Felt fins provide a practical but visually interesting acoustical treatment in the first-floor training and break rooms. Retractable dividing walls enable users to subdivide the expansive training room into smaller spaces, each with their own projector and access to the adjacent breakroom. Selective use of bright green in accent chairs, soffits, and booth seating throughout the building cleverly incorporate Terminix’s signature brand color.

Photography by Brian Dressler.