A brick-modern civic hub just outside Columbus, OH
1 · The brief, in one breath
Studio M+Co rang us up wanting visuals that could walk into a city-council chamber and do the talking for them. Seven hero images, two feedback rounds, one… frankly ridiculous… week. Challenge accepted.
2 · What hit our inbox
- A tidy 2D drawing set — plans, elevations, site (still smelled of plotter ink)
- One stubborn brick chip — clay-red, low-sheen, “non-negotiable, folks”
- Mood board of civic buildings that aged well (think: no trendy gimmicks)
- Soft-scape palette — tufted grasses, easy shrubs, zero-maintenance vibes
- A phone–snapped site photo so we could nail the actual sun angle, not guesswork
3 · White-model pass → Are we on the same page?
Before anyone argued over brick tone, we built a clay-white model and fired off three views:
1. Cantilevered entry
2. Central courtyard
3. Winter-plaza massing
We got back a casual: “lower the camera by half a step, widen the path two metres.” Ten-minute tweak. That tiny detour saved us hours later.
