At Helios it was vital for the interior along with the exterior to be connected at every level. It required gestures of outreach to not only their clientele and fellow employees, but also to the community. The land on which the environment lies possess unique views to iconic local mountain ranges. The interior environment seamlessly grabs every opportunity to entwine itself to the outdoor setting.

To answer our why we looked to inspiration from the mountain adjacent to the site. The base of our range outreaches in imperfect ways to the land. It is grounded and unpredictable. However, in the mountain’s grooves is where rain water flows and life emerges. The walls and ceilings fold and bend in gentle ways to mimic the sculptural lines of a mountain as it grabs the earth. Natural materials will be placed at theses shifts with varying accents of green inserting itself unexpectedly at the indentations.

As we ascend to level two the mountain range dissipates and reaches to the sky. The material palette softens as do our gestures at the ceiling and wall planes. Expanses of glass were provided to capture the views and to support the concept of connection to nature and to one another.

The client challenged the design team for this project to be a 100 year building – inside and out. At the interior one of our goals was to incorporate materials that were timeless as well as stand up to the wear and tear of use over time. We had to be careful not to follow any trends with color, material choices or application. We looked to our why, our story to help us make definitive decisions. Finish selections of copper metal [a local material], reconstituted wood, stone from the southwest, terrazzo with copper detailing, and soft colored glass and fabrics that became the inserts of life were utilized.