GOLES – Good Old Lower East Side, Inc. – a 45-year-old Lower East Side housing and preservation organization, appointed the Collective to completely re-design their storefront offices and public meeting spaces. The new offices support GOLES’s work on tenant rights, homelessness prevention, economic development, community revitalization, and its advocacy for a sustainable and healthy environment.
GOLES’s storefront offices are located in a brick and cast-iron building on the corner of Avenue B and East 11th Street on the Lower East Side. During the renovation, the spaces were completely gutted, and redesigned using new electric and lighting systems, custom cabinetry, and furniture. Sustainable and healthy materials were used throughout.
The architectural design was inspired by the colors, rythms and vitality of the Lower East Side neighborhood. GOLES’s interior spaces – with their bold and joyful blue, orange, yellow, and brick-red colors – are in dialogue with the busy streetscape.
At the beginning of the project, the Collective led a workshop with GOLES’s leadership and staff to create a shared vision for the design of the new offices.
The interior design features sound-absorbing cork-clad cubicle partitions and custom baltic birch cabinetry throughout. The stained plywood upper cabinets have sliding doors with finger-pulls and concealed LED lighting. In the corner office, a curved brick-stained wood reception desk faces a generous public waiting area.
GOLES’s meeting room is designed to be highly adaptable – for workshops, meetings, presentations, celebrations, and more.
Guided by CCCE’s architect, GOLES’ staff members helped to install the cork panels in each of the offices.