Eastlake Studio: Provocateurs of Interior Design Technology
In the last few decades, architecture and interior design have experienced a dramatic shift in the workflows that professionals consider standard. Hand-drafting is long gone; for many it’s nostalgic, and many more embrace the power incumbent to digital drafting tools. Some take it even further with BIM, embracing the process to lead their businesses into lasting success.
Eastlake Studio is a Chicago-based interior design and architecture firm that has been operational for 33 years. They specialize in corporate office design, producing state-of-the-art workspaces for their clients. Principal Christina Brown says Eastlake has always been driven by the advent of technology — “We really were one of the first architecture firms to be using computers,” she said, offering proof: one can see two Eastlake founders on a 1991 cover of Mac Chicago, a well-respected publication for Mac users.
The cover of the magazine was the very beginning of their journey with design technology, but the appearance goes to show that Eastlake is always looking forward — for ways to better themselves, the spaces they produce, and, most importantly, the clients they serve.
Great Design Means Clients First
Eastlake Studio proudly pronounces their guiding philosophy on their website: “creating great places to work, play, and live.” Designing these great places, however, involves understanding what “great” actually means to the client, because “everyone is so different,” Brown says; to her point, it’s easy to see how a design that impresses one client might totally miss the mark for another. “There’s never a one-size-fits-all solution. We want to embody this model for our clients, and I think that those who have worked with us see that and deeply appreciate it.”
How does one embrace this client-first mantra? “By asking as many questions as possible,” Brown says. “As weird or as simple as they may be, lots of interesting things can come out of it. We try to do that as opposed to pushing our own agenda, our own thoughts, our own ideas. All we can do is advise our clients on what we think and what we know.”
Many of Eastlake’s projects have a turnaround time of about six months, an incredibly small window when you factor in everything it takes to realize a project. It places a particular importance on the conversations Eastlake has with the client — they need to fully understand the client’s desires, as there isn’t much time for revisions.
“We first like to look to ourselves and what we’d want in that space,” Brown explains. “What would our employees want and what would make us function better in our environment. “We want outdoor space, we want as much light as possible, and we want people to feel like they have different choices of where they can work, whether it’s a café, a heads-down space, a conference room, high-tech spaces, low-tech spaces, all of it.” With a baseline in place, Eastlake is ready to do what they do best — design.
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