-By AnnMarie Marano; Photography by Robert Shimer and Scott McDonald/Hedrich Blessing

project: The Underground
location: Oklahoma City, Okla.
designer: Elliott + Associates Architects client: Downtown OKC, Inc.

For Oklahoma City-based Elliott + Associates Architects, renovating The Underground—downtown Oklahoma City's series of tunnels and passages that connect some 30 businesses below street level—was an experiment in marrying utility with beauty.

"The designers took it from a pretty drab experience to almost an artistic one," says Kathy Ford-Wallis, director of operations for Downtown OKC, Inc., a nonprofit created in 2000 to develop, manage, and market downtown Oklahoma City.

The Underground's original tunnel was built in 1931 to connect the historic Skirvin Hotel to the Skirvin Tower office building. In the 1970s, the city decided to expand on that idea and the majority of it was built between 1972 and 1984 to combat the brutal winds the city can experience from time to time. But the project hadn't been touched since then, and with deteriorating carpet, poor lighting, and leaks, a walk through the tunnels could be a scary experience.

"The project had not been maintained or taken care of. There were talks of filling it with concrete. We felt it was a real asset to our downtown area and had to focus on it," explains Rand Elliott, FAIA, president, Elliott + Associates, who completed the renovation in May 2007. "People didn't understand what downtown was like historically until The Underground. We reintroduced them to it and put them in a new exciting environment."

Two of the biggest challenges proved to be lighting and wayfinding. Lighting fixtures were few and far between, positioned only where electrical access was in the original layout. "It's a subterranean space, so you can't just put an outlet wherever you want," Elliott says. The designers thought fluorescent light would be best considering the existing conditions.

It was also easy to get lost, since the tunnels do not always run in cardinal directions and each tended to look the same. The solution was a color-coded system, in which the tunnels were separated into nine different sections, each stained according to which buildings they connect. For example, the light green tunnel connects three different banks and represents "The Oklahoma City Banking History Gallery."

"In addition there is a series of signs along the way we call 'portals and panels,'" says architect Michael Hoffner, AIA, a senior member of the design team. "At each portal a signage panel pops out from the wall. There is an Underground logo on it, as well as various destinations and which direction you need to go from here. Whenever you get to a point of decision there is help, giving you directions, and showing you which way is North."

Not only did the Elliott + Associates team make the Underground easier to navigate, but they also injected a bit of culture beneath the city streets. Each color-coded section houses artwork that educates visitors about the history of that section as it relates to Oklahoma City. It covers everything from federal government to oil exploration. "As you move through each section, you learn about its identity through art and its color," explains Hoffner. Also included is a purple tunnel that houses an invited artists gallery, where a quarterly rotating exhibition will always be on display.

For now, the city is stopping there. But Elliott and Hoffner say there certainly are retail space opportunities in the basements of the buildings the tunnels connect. Whatever the future holds for it, The Underground has become a place to visit, rather than just a way to move between businesses.


jury comment:

"So, so smart…it is such an exhilarating feeling to see the work of a designer that is 'just right'—light. That's it. It completely changes the desire to be there, makes it spectacle…makes it communal. Paint, carpet, and fluorescent strip lighting in most hands would be disastrous. Here it is used with wit, great power, and conviction. Excellent design does not have to be about expensive materials. This is a simple, clear, strong idea that is carried through beautifully."


who
Project: Underground. Client: Downtown OKC. Architect, interior designer, lighting designer: Elliott + Associates Architects; Rand Elliott, FAIA, principal in charge; Michael Hoffner, AIA, project architect; Joseph Williams, Associate AIA. Structural engineer: Wallace Engineering Structural Consultants. Mechanical engineer: PSA Consulting Engineers (MEP). Electrical engineer: General contractor: Downey Contracting. Audio Video: Audio Video Design. Historian: Pendleton Woods. Photographer: Robert Shimer, Scott McDonald/Hedrich Blessing.

what
Paint: Sherwin-Williams, Pittsburgh Paints. Stair treads: Roppe. Carpet/carpet tile: Charles van Gelder Imports. Ceiling:     Armstrong Second Look III. Lighting: Lightolier, Lithonia (specified), Prescolite (track lighting), Columbia Lighting (fluorescent lighting). Doors: Kawneer. Perforated metal panels: Quality Perforating. Signage: Elliott + Associates; The Hit Show, Matt Goad (design); Eaton Quade Plastics and Sign Company (fabrication).

where
Location: Oklahoma City, Okla. Total floor area: 42,000 sq.ft. No. of floors: 1. Cost/sq. ft.: $30.41.