LIFT – A singular design inspired by the shared passion of the builder and client leadership.
Helmed by a sailor and a pilot, just like MGB’s Steve Ellis and Grant Castilow, Enzymedica’s Chairman and CEO hired MGB to create a new LEED Certified corporate headquarters to house its office staff, retail sales training facility, laboratory, clean room for production and bottling/shipping operation. MGB brought in the design consultancy firm Del Vescovo Design Group to collaborate on a singular design for this project based on an abstract painting called “Sail.” Our proposal was titled “LIFT” as the design was inspired by our shared passion for sailing and flying which both depend on manipulating air flow over a “wing” to create lift.
The global digestive enzyme company moved from Port Charlotte, where it had occupied a 15,000- square foot facility spread out over four buildings, to Venice. On the new campus, MGB converted a large storage warehouse, building out more than 45,000 square feet in a framework built with 100 percent recycled steel, low-flow faucets, 113 solar panels, motion detection lighting and many more sustainable elements on the path to LEED certification. A second mezzanine level was added to the structure to expand Enzymedica’s office space featuring an inspired conference room.
Because both sailors and pilots rely on the physics of lift to reach their goals, and typically depend on teams to stay alive, the company’s message was clear and needed to be trumpeted everywhere in the lean, efficient space.
A wing radius-shaped central hallway defined by a sweeping, curved wall runs through the core of the 2 stories of offices. The conference room table is an actual glass-topped airplane wing, the design reflected in a series of wing-shaped pendant lights directly overhead and perpetuated throughout the space, appearing to glide over the two-story lobby area.
Conference room chairs are an aerodynamic design that might be found in planes and boats. Replicated steel ship railings provide a nautical nod, with riveted aluminum Restoration Hardware furnishings (desk; coffee table; storage) punctuating CEO and Chairman Tom Bohager’s office. The ample reception area desk is a curvilinear shape, much like the design of planes and boats for maximum speed and maneuverability. The corporate palette is blue, green and grey—redolent of the sky, sea and weather—seen in walls, flooring, ceiling and finishes. Shiny steel and aluminum fixtures and accessories provide excellent surfaces to reflect light, also resonating Enzymedica’s sailor and pilot theme.