CRISP Shared Services

December 04, 2024

CRISP Shared Services’ corporate office in Columbia, MD, embraces an adaptable hybrid workplace model. Tasked with supporting a predominantly remote workforce, Arium AE delivered a centralized touch-down space full of amenities (think supercharged work-centric neighborhood café). Although the staff size is about 170 people, most employees utilize the office one day a week, resulting in a hybrid headcount of approximately 64 people at one time. This allows for an optimized 10,907 SF workspace designed with future-proof adaptability in mind.

The office serves as a collaboration hub, providing staff with a central meet-up location where they can seamlessly switch between face-to-face engagement and tech-enabled video conferencing. The space is thoughtfully segmented into multi-modal zones – including private offices, focus rooms, and open collaboration areas – all organized around a central circulation core that provides intuitive navigation and natural wayfinding.

Arium’s design not only prioritizes flexibility but incorporates demand-driven, rich amenities that elevate employee engagement and well-being. These include dynamic lounge areas for spontaneous interaction, high-top tables for quick stand-up meetings, and collaborative zones for brainstorming and ideation. The space includes four small focus rooms, conference rooms for up to 6 and 10 people, multiple open office collaboration spaces, and a large board room to accommodate quarterly all-hands meetings. The board room is easily subdivided with a folding partition and spills directly into the break area via sliding frameless glass doors. Attention to detail is evident in the integration of bold modern ceiling features and strategic lighting design, which delineates circulation pathways while adding height and brightness to the space. Vibrant accent elements, such as acoustic felt clouds, linear baffles, and intricate carpet tile patterns, contribute to a cohesive aesthetic and provide essential acoustical privacy, ensuring a holistic environment that balances form and function.

Builder: CK Commercial
Project Management: KGO
Photos: Courtesy of CK Commercial

Digney York Associates

September 01, 2022

Arium’s NOVA design team recently partnered with Digney York Associates (DYA) and their internal design team, Elkay Interior Systems, to renovate a 13,000 SF office space in Vienna, Virginia. By thoughtfully planning for DYA’s needs within the space’s constraints, the team could minimize the fit-out cost and focus on a dramatic lobby experience, an ample break area, showcase millwork/furnishings, and displays. New glass office fronts and flexible hoteling workstations replaced a more traditional sea of system furniture cubes. What was once a conventional office space has been transformed into a vibrant showcase that reflects growth through attention to detail, a new flexible work experience, and a branded collaborative environment.

Construction by Digney York Associates.

Tenable Headquarters

October 25, 2021

Awards: NAIOP MD Award of Excellence for Best Interior 2022

Tenable, the Cyber Exposure company, expanded its Maryland presence with the development of a new corporate headquarters in an urban-style campus in Columbia’s new Merriweather District.

Arium provided full architecture and MEP engineering design services for the interior architecture of the six-floor 150,000 sq. ft. high-tech office. The space embodies Tenable’s desire for each floor to feel different from the next and provide work areas with their own identity. Breaking traditional corporate office architecture molds by challenging all that is typical, Arium’s design creates a unique collaborative work environment. Intentional variations in office architectural stylings personalize each workspace. Themed finishes, unique specialty lighting and acoustical treatments, glass front offices, and workstations along the perimeter allow natural light throughout. A multi-purpose training room, conference rooms, huddle rooms, and ample amenity spaces reinforce flexibility and collaboration. A large and open community stair connects the 11th and 12th floors and functions as a seating area for casual gatherings. A one-of-a-kind custom treelike column feature sets the mood for the space. Surrounding the community stair is a catering space, which serves as the main dining area. An outdoor terrace overlooks Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Columbia Association Headquarters

Arium provided full architecture design services for the Columbia Association’s new headquarters in Columbia, MD. One and a half floors of an outdated suburban office were transformed into a vibrant workspace focused on flexible collaboration spaces used by both staff and the community.

The program required large member services areas, which were to be open and welcoming. A large board room and an adjacent conference room utilize movable partitions to open and make a large space where community members can meet. The office space follows an open floor plan with glass-front offices along the interior and workstations along the perimeter. There are casual collaboration spaces in the open office areas and multiple conference and meeting rooms for more focused discussions. The main break room is large and open, perfect for team members to gather for lunch or work sessions. The finishes are contemporary, with color pops to reflect the company branding. These pops of color also contribute to wayfinding throughout the space. Arium also assisted with the furniture selections for the offices and workstations, which enhance the corporate branded image and have customizable height desks to allow both sitting and standing.

“Our staff is interacting with other departments more than they ever had before… Everybody that comes to visit remarks on how beautiful it looks.” – Susan Krabbe, Columbia Association

Sparksoft Corporate Office

Sparksoft, an innovative IT solutions company, expanded its office in Columbia, Maryland. The company sought a bright, bold, modern office with multi-functional spaces, open collaboration areas, and architectural elements designed with a common thread of branding woven throughout.

Arium provided full architecture and MEP engineering design services for this interior fit-out project. The 2nd floor existing main break area was expanded with more seating at a bar-height counter, a more spacious gaming area, and additional soft seating in the collaboration spaces. The millwork was replaced, and branding accents such as backsplash tile, acoustical ceiling baffles, and lighting were added. The design carries through in patterns in the LVT flooring, creating zones and defining travel paths as wayfinding elements. The open offices were modified with new aluminum frames, laminate doors, and glass sidelights for the office fronts and are exposed to the deck above for more volume and spacious feel. The team paid special attention to material selections and details to ensure a positive acoustical environment within offices and small meeting rooms. There are multiple huddle and conference rooms, each with an accent slightly different than the next, and branded with inspirational words like Initiate, Motivate, Inspire. An executive wing features frameless glass enclosures that are themed with the client’s choice of bourbon whiskies. The Innovation Open Office is a flexible space with large screens for training and group collaboration. The reception area design welcomes visitors by featuring Sparksoft’s brand and corporate logo proudly presented on a modern metallic laminate backdrop.

CIRQL 2 Offices & Shared Suite

Arium is the Architect and MEP Engineer-of-record for the CIRQL 2 workspace in Columbia, Maryland, a prototypical new workspace designed to meet the contemporary, amenity-rich, social hub needs of growing companies. CIRQL 2’s suite of tenant offices features efficient layouts averaging 2,000 sq. ft., complemented by spacious, highly-designed shared common amenity areas and top-line technology. The project consisted of interior and exterior renovations relating to a new exterior vestibule and new common areas and amenities. Key components of the space include flex rooms, common meeting rooms, communal break areas, new restrooms, and a lounge designed with visually compelling materials and textures throughout. FF&E services include furniture selections and coordination with project manufacturers, including purchase order review. HVAC system renovations and new electrical to accommodate the space were provided.

Authority Brands

Arium provided full architecture and MEP engineering design services for the Authority Brands’ corporate office. The contemporary office space is designed with a modern neutral palette and expansive exposed ceilings. Flexible on-demand meeting spaces of various sizes were employed throughout and fitted with full-glass fronts and acoustical ceiling accents. The project included a large server room expansion and upgraded HVAC equipment and distribution networks that were woven seamlessly into the workspace.