Commercial & Office

In 2006, the new 60,000 square feet Interra Credit Union, formerly known as the Farm Bureau Credit Union, opened for business. The exterior design mixes contemporary with interpretive, historic and conservative details to celebrate the past and future for the 75 year old Goshen, IN organization. The three-level building is complete with a 2-story sky-lit atrium that bisects the building into two equal parts and connects the two main entrances to an energized central public space. The award winning building is filled with rich detail, color, and architectural creativity. The basement level's curved 2-story workspace is filled with natural light from main level windows facing the two streets of the corner lot. The architect provided a complete holistic design including all customized casework, interior finishes & detailing, furniture, artwork, interior plant selections, and atrium banners. The brick masonry and limestone design received the "Best of Commercial" award from the Indiana/Kentucky Golden Trowel Awards.

New corporate offices were designed for a construction company on a very visible high traffic area site. The new 20,000 square feet structure is designed with four split-levels that provide open visual connectivity and yet are distinctly separated vertically. The top level is occupied by the executive and accounting offices; the middle entrance level includes a waiting/lobby area, small meeting rooms, reception/clerical office workstations, copy/work area, and project manager & cost estimating offices. The lower level includes restrooms, a kitchen, large flexible meeting spaces, field crew manager offices, and an exterior break patio. The lowest, basement level is for storage and future expansion. The owner requested that this building exemplify a variety of construction materials and to visually express them in the design. The use of exposed concrete, steel, wood, brick and concrete block is used throughout in both the interior and exterior material pallet.

Project Information
Owner: Child and Parent Services (CAPS)
Location: Elkhart, Indiana
Size: 29,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $5,000,000
Completion: Summer 2017

Cripe Design was hired to design an office building to house seven related not-for-profit agencies. Each agency required separate private office spaces that share meeting spaces and Staff service areas. The solution is a two story very functional and efficient layout that satisfied a very constrained budget. The design includes three distinctly different building entrances yet clearly identified using the same bright blue color to signify the unity of the seven agencies. The rear one-story portion of the building is designed to accommodate a future second floor expansion. The front main entrance, with a private Staff balcony on the roof of the canopy, provides controlled access to all agencies and to seven shared meeting spaces. The west entrance, with distinct 5 feet diameter column, supports a bus drop-off canopy and marks the entrance to a classroom area for treating special needs children called "Building Blocks". An adjacent outdoor playground serves as recreational release for the special children. A large multi-purpose space, central to the first floor, doubles as a dining, meeting and indoor play space and can be divided into three spaces for simultaneous use. The east more reserved entrance design is a segregated entry for the privacy of the Child & Family Advocacy Center.

In 2013, Cripe Design collaborated with a local builder and designed a 36,500sf Home Care medical office building. It included multiple open-office departments each with unique challenges to coexist under one roof, in addition to the standard administrative office support not unlike most businesses. This facility also included a retail pharmacy and a home care equipment showroom and distribution Center. It was the Client's desire that the showroom space be full of natural light with just a hint of nature. To respond, a large ridge skylight was installed and wood suspended planters with artificial plants for ease of maintenance and yet subtly suggesting a green canopy in the space. Custom workstations were designed with a feeling of privacy yet open for visual control.

TaigMarks is a very creative and talented cutting edge marketing firm located in a renovated downtown storefront building. The owners wanted to capture the essence of their company's innovative energy and translate it into a stimulating environment to encourage creative thinking. Rich bright colors and interesting shapes were blended into an assembly of contemporary stage-set like office spaces, strategically placed and blended within an historic building shell. The resulting articulation of spaces is inviting and evokes a sense of mystery, creativity and fun. To visit and explore Taig Marks is like a virtual tour through a real time website.

Strong horizontal lines and low sloping hip roofs, characterize this two story prairie style corporate office building. The carefully detailed façade of the manufacturing portion of the building helps to blend the corporate offices with the industrial plant rather than the traditional contrasting approach to attached office/plant design. The pyramid shaped skylight caps the central stair atrium and provides a finishing focal point to the symmetrical office building design.