Columbus Networks Miami Campus

Columbus Networks US Headquarters

North Miami Beach, Florida | 2012

New headquarters for a rapidly expanding global telecommunications company were an opportunity to look at issues of connectivity, the transmission of identity, and the balance of security and transparency in a critical facility.

The company’s main business, the placement and maintenance of undersea fiber-optic cables internationally, served as a thematic generator for the design of the campus. The architect repurposed a suburban office building (a facility built in 1972 for Florida Power & Light) with new additions designed to urbanize the site and create a series of outdoor patio spaces.

Evoking the company’s undersea cable system, circulation on the site is organized as a continuous loop that threads the building elements together. This loop begins at the ground floor entry, circles through the offices offering glimpses of server rooms and engineers’ workstations, and culminates in the Network Operation Center (NOC), the command center. Operating 24-7, the elevated NOC is the heart of the facility and its most dramatic space.

The design also took into consideration the need for significant security throughout much of the site, balanced with more welcoming spaces for visiting clients and executives. The architect utilized metal, tile and hard laminates juxtaposed with the abundant use of glass and wood.

Awards:

2015 AIA Florida Award of Excellence
2013 AIA Miami Award of Excellence

Photos by Robin Hill