light industrial office creative Snyder Langston John Gunther creative-office 
GlobeSt.com: Why are developers are seeking creative-office conversion opportunities? Gunther: developers GlobeSt.com: What are the common construction themes for transforming these projects? Gunther: investment 
GlobeSt.com: Can you tell us about any conversion projects you are working on right now? Gunther: warehouse 
GlobeSt.com: What are some examples of other design trends you are seeing in this type of space? Gunther: - Opening ceilings and walls: We are taking the existing building and renovating from the top down starting from the roof. Natural light is very important. We are adding as many skylights as possible—not little ones you have seen in the past; I am talking very large skylights to let in the light that allows employees to see the clouds, sun and rain. Creative elements are added to them as well—they are often angled, pitched and different shapes. This open theme is apparent along the perimeter walls as well, with the installation of glass roll-up doors that let the fresh air come in and open up to outside patios, gardens and dog yards. It is now easy to roll the doors up, drift outside, have meetings and work via WiFi from the patio.
- Mezzanine: As a way to add more square footage fairly inexpensively, we are building mezzanine as well. A lot of these buildings have height, so mezzanine provides benefits of added architectural features and more open, collaborate space.
- Dining: Traditional kitchens have transformed into open cafés that are larger and have high-end, full kitchen appliances. They oftentimes open out to the patios via roll-up doors and include barbeques.
- Exterior artistic enhancements: We are seeing a lot of industrial-type metal design and tall screening elements that stand off the building and provide a nice, modern architectural appeal. These, combined with creative lighting that changes colors and exterior branding graphics for the tenants, really create great curb appeal.
- Easy access parking: Tenants are looking for convenient surface parking. As a general preference, they don't like to go into structures. They want to pull up and have parking with easy access to the entrances.
- Eco-friendly: Owners are spending more on exterior, drought-tolerant landscaping than I have ever seen. They want to be conservative and environmentally friendly, but also know that it is important to tenants to have attractive and lush landscaping. The solution we are seeing is less grass, but more drought-tolerant plants. If there are walking trails, we are utilizing decomposed granite that will return water to the ground, as well as water-retention areas that return water back to the plants. Parking lots are also becoming permeable surfaces that are absorbing moisture and returning it back to earth. And finally, solar panels are regular additions to these properties.
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