Southland Industries Office

Southland Industries Tenant Improvement Project
Southland Industries Tenant Improvement Project
Southland Industries Tenant Improvement Project

Southland Industries was reimagining how its evolved brand could be better reflected in a new space in Phoenix. To design the perfect office for them, we needed to fully understand what this brand was. In accordance to our commitment to designing through curiosity, questioning, and engagement, this project demonstrates the power of diligent inquiry.

Client

Southland Industries

Location

Tempe, Arizona

Markets/Services

Architecture, Corporate Interiors, Interiors, Workplace

Size

10,000 SF

When a company grows, its spaces often must be assessed. Does this layout still work for all the different teams? Is there enough room for new employees? Is its brand still properly expressed in the space, if in fact, it hasn’t developed into a new brand? Southland Industries — an Orange County-based engineering firm — was asking these questions and answering “no” for most of them. Their current office space was lacking connectivity, camaraderie, and a sense of space, and was not helping the company establish a very strong presence in Phoenix.

Southland Industries SmithGroup

Because of the complex nature of Southland’s work, it was imperative that our team intricately study the processes to better design spaces that would complement the company’s workflow.

Southland Industries SmithGroup
Southland Industries SmithGroup
Southland Industries SmithGroup

We wanted to make transparency paramount. The firm had historically nurtured a hierarchical culture and was trying to break it down. Through our design glass conference rooms, would be the perfect element to combat this dynamic.

Southland was struggling with its previous lack of a private entrance and felt as though its office was lost in a building of many businesses. Responding to the need for easier access to the public and street, our team created a new front door, literally opening the office up to passers-by. Now, with a definitive presence in Tempe, and an office with its brand accurately reinforced throughout the space, Southland Industries is onto its next phase.