Award Winner 2025
Detroit, Michigan
SmithGroup’s renovation and consolidation of its Detroit office and global headquarters reflect the firm’s legacy in the city, while creating a modern living laboratory for agile workplace design. The project has received the 2025 Livable Building Award, which is conferred annually by UC Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment for projects that showcase excellence in architectural design, sustainability and livability as measured by the CBE Occupant Survey. For SmithGroup, a regular user of the survey, the results show occupant satisfaction in the Detroit office to be among the highest of all projects surveyed in 2024. This is consistent across all aspects of indoor environmental quality that are covered in the survey, with 7 of the 9 categories ranking above the 80th percentile, compared to all 2024 results.
The office occupies a unique and fitting location in Detroit, where the firm has operated since 1855, in the iconic art-deco Guardian Building, designed by the firm (named Smith Hinchman & Grylls until 2000) in the late 1920s when Detroit was a growing and prosperous industrial and commercial hub. SmithGroup has occupied the building since 1999. The recent renovation consolidated three office floors into two, with exposed ceilings and ample access to natural light.
The office is divided into zones offering varied work environments from individual workstations to social collaboration areas, allowing employees to select a preferred space to suit their current needs and activities. These zones are delineated by screens that reference stylized aspects of noteworthy SmithGroup buildings. The team also implemented many design concepts, technologies and furnishings that represent best practices learned from SmithGroup client work.
A key feature is a communicating stair that connects the two main floors and is lined with pin-up and social spaces to promote physical movement and social interaction. Liz Vandermark, a senior principal and SmithGroup’s director of research, confirms the benefit of the stair: “Having worked there without that stair, I can say that its insertion radically improved the sense of community in the office.” She also notes that Detroit was one of the first offices to adopt an activity-based work design, and that the “data shows that staff continue to appreciate the flexibility that it affords them.” She also notes that since the Detroit office redesign, all of the firm’s offices have adopted this approach, and that they are applying lessons learned as the understanding of this model continues to evolve, “thanks in part to data collected from staff using the CBE’s WELL survey instrument.”
This focus on employee experience and well-being was further demonstrated when Detroit became the first of the firm’s offices to earn WELL Gold Certification from the International WELL Building Institute. The project team created a WELL Feature Guide to help office users understand the design concepts and improved operations that contribute to occupant satisfaction. The office is also LEED Silver certified.
Chris Heine, a principal and sustainability strategist with SmithGroup who is located in the Detroit office, explains that the design process took advantage of feedback mechanisms to inform decisions and be responsive to the evolving needs of individuals and teams. He notes that the results are positive: “Energized by the ongoing adoption and evolution of hybrid work, the workplace has remained agile, continuing to support diverse and shifting requirements while serving as a living, learning lab.”
Learn more about the project with these links:
Photography by Jason Robinson
2025 Honorable Mentions
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U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Headquarters Office
Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Green Building Council, another a frequent user of the CBE Occupant Survey, received an honorable mention for its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The space was designed to reflect the organization’s focus on reducing the environmental impacts of buildings and improving conditions for occupants and communities. The project’s success has been demonstrated in excellent results in multiple iterations of the CBE Occupant Survey.
The office gained unique triple platinum certification in LEED, WELL and TRUE, and is located in a building that is also LEED Gold Certified. A key goal was to support the circular economy through the use of salvaged and reused materials, and prioritizing third-party certification for new materials. Terrazzo flooring (originally mixed with recycled glass and poured on site in the organization’s former office) was salvaged and reused in the new catering pantry. A ‘Materials Wall’ displays material cards for all furniture, fixtures, equipment and finishes, which includes their associated carbon footprint and health and environmental attributes. Together, these strategies achieved a 44% reduction in embodied carbon from the baseline.
Upon learning of the award results, the team responded, “We’re proud to receive this recognition from CBE’s Livable Building Awards program. By investing in our people, USGBC is demonstrating how we live out our mission and stay true to our values.”
Project Team
- Perkins&Will, Architect
- GHT Limited, MEP Engineering
- SK&A, Structural Engineering
- Hotbed Technologies, Audio Visual
- JLL, Owner’s Representative
- General Contractor, Hitt
- Advanced Building Performance, Commissioning Agent
- Building Owner, 2101 L Street Owner, LLC
- Photography, Halkin Mason Photography
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Accenture Innovation Hub One Manhattan West
New York, New York
Accenture’s Innovation Hub at One Manhattan West, is also a recipient of a Livable Buildings honorable mention this year. The project was developed with an overarching goal of creating a highly flexible environment that would support the health and well-being of employees. The project has been certified as LEED Gold and WELL Platinum, and offers a range of spaces that allow individuals and teams to choose spaces that fit their daily needs. The project is located on the top nine floors of a 67-story building, with areas down into distinct ‘neighborhoods’ named after NYC icons, including quiet areas for focused work, active zones and amenities that support collaboration.
The HOK design team focused on providing abundant daylight, circadian lighting, biophilic greenery and specifying nontoxic materials. Amenities include wellness centers, meditation rooms and exercise spaces. Interconnected stairways and communal areas promote movement and informal encounters. Additional specialized spaces include a VR lab, a broadcast studio, maker spaces and demonstration zones.
Read more about the project in HOK’s project description.
Project Team
- HOK, Interiors, Experience and Sustainable Design