When Double P Construction and design group DN Spaces began work on a new office space for Asta Parking, they got some feedback and requests from the client that you might not expect from a company that deals in parking lots, garages and valet services. Make it fun. Be creative. Create interesting spaces.
The result is a headquarters for Asta that includes bright colors and a funky take on the industrial look that can be described, positively, as parking lot chic. Think: white and yellow street and parking space-marking lines in patterns, or tables made from tires. Bright blues and yellows dominate, and a neon sign on one wall reads “Asta luego.” (Get it?)
“The concept of it is to get away from the typical office setting,” says Nick Terziev, director of operations for Double P Construction. “They want employees to come in and embrace the office as they spend more time there than they do at home. That’s why they’ve got a conference table that can double as a poker table. If you look at the break room and the training room, they have artificial grass and a picnic table. They have seating areas. One of the owners is big into cars so we added tables that use tires and glass. We brought a lot of what they do and embrace in their personal lives into the office so that everyone can enjoy and want to spend time there.
“Every wall and every room has a different story or feature to it. It was nice seeing everyone’s expressions as they were walking in and interacting at the opening party.
“Once the employees started working in their new spaces, you could see that they were enjoying coming to the office. That’s the goal they really wanted to achieve.” To accomplish that, everyone had to think outside the box. Outside the parking space, if you will.
“Things that were designed weren’t your typical design style,” Terziev says. “If you look at the reception desk and know the different aspects that were used to put it together – the interior design, etc., it has kind of a whimsical approach. Getting those creative ideas built led to the ultimate success of the project.
“One of the owners of Asta Parking was hands-on and helped come up with ideas to create some of the site-specific details of it. [It involved] working with the designers to put together something not everyone can do and working with the owners who embrace the things that the architect, designers and builders can put together and have a successful project.
“The owners of Asta Parking really embrace their work concept. They wanted to create a second home for their employees. A lot of their personalities were incorporated into it.
“We’ve known them for 10 years because we’ve been doing their lots so we got together to create this office space for their headquarters.”
Double P works frequently with Asta on both parking lots and renovations, but this was something a bit different. Terziev sees it as the sort of project that can happen when everybody’s on the same page and willing to try different things. It also helps that Double P is a versatile company.
“We’re custom builders – we do everything from commercial to residential,” he says.“We are educated as architects and use that knowledge and practicality to be able to construct and do things that most contractors cannot. We take the approach from the architects and designers to come together to bring the end product.”
It helps to work with people who share the vision. “DN Spaces is a different kind of design company, as they specialize in storybook marketing ideas,” Terziev says. “A lot of that kind of creativity was put into it.
“When you have a really good team of people [from the designers, architects, clients, etc.] who can work together and take each other’s ideas and try to reciprocate and tackle all the challenges that are there, that’s what creates success and that’s one of the successful aspects of this project.”
