{"id":195049,"date":"2022-04-05T12:27:13","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T16:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_project&p=195049"},"modified":"2023-11-17T13:28:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T18:28:36","slug":"pophouse-captures-the-collaborative-spirit-of-rock-ventures-for-its-detroit-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/pophouse-captures-the-collaborative-spirit-of-rock-ventures-for-its-detroit-headquarters\/","title":{"rendered":"Pophouse Captures the Collaborative Spirit of Rock Ventures for its Detroit Headquarters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Overhead
In the atrium of the Rock Ventures and the Rock Family of Companies headquarters in Detroit by Pophouse, a spiral staircase rises from a mosaic-tile installation by Faile that incor\u00adpo\u00adrates words important to the ethos of the companies and the city itself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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April 5, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Jane Margolies<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>John D'Angelo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Pophouse Captures the Collaborative Spirit of Rock Ventures for its Detroit Headquarters<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

2022 Best of Year Winner<\/a> for Medium Corporate Office<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The infill of an office building in a downtown Detroit complex had just been completed when Pophouse decided to blast an enormous hole through two floors of it. The firm was planning the new headquarters of Rock Ventures and the Rock Family of Companies, and the designers envisioned a monumental spiral staircase at the point where angled sides of the complex meet. The staircase, the central feature of the project, would not only connect the lower and upper levels of the 50,000- square-foot office but also unite the multiple teams housed there, creating serendipitous opportunities for employees who don\u2019t normally work together to come into contact while going up and down the stairs, fostering a sense of being part of a larger enterprise. But, of course, demolishing brand-new construction would be expensive and disruptive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another client would almost certainly have said no. But Jennifer Gilbert, the founder and creative director of Pophouse<\/a>, had the ear of her client, Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Rock Ventures, Rock FOC, and Rocket Companies, to whom she has long been married. And as his wife and partner in many ventures, she is part boss, too, and was thus able to call the shots much more than is usually the case on the commercial projects the studio works on\u2014with stunning results. \u201cWearing the creative director hat and some of the owner hat was great,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rift-cut
Rift-cut white oak forms the stair\u2019s handrails, treads, and risers and clads columns, while leather covers the custom modular bench.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not that she was doing the work alone. Just as her husband\u2019s business has grown\u2014it began with his founding of what would become Quicken Loans in 1985, and the Rock Family of Companies now includes a portfolio of more than 100 diverse entities including Rocket Companies, 100 Thieves, Stock X, Dictionary.com, and the NBA\u2019s Cleveland Cavaliers\u2014so, too, has Pophouse. The firm, which is also part of the Rock FOC, prides itself on a data-driven approach to design that incorporates the latest findings on things like biophilia. So when Rock Ventures and the Rock FOC were ready to move from cramped former quarters elsewhere in the complex to a roomier, more sophisticated space, Pophouse was up to the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chrissy Fehan, the firm\u2019s design director, and her colleagues fleshed out a scheme that incorporates multiple circular spaces, not the least being the spiral stair in its airy atrium, based in part on research suggesting that such spaces spur creativity. The first is in reception, on the lower floor. Here, under backlit stretched fabric, a terrazzo floor is modeled on Detroit\u2019s hub-and-spoke street grid. The waiting-area gallery just beyond is circular, too. Where circles were not possible, Pophouse rounded the corners of private offices and installed curvy furniture through\u00adout, notably plump Pierre Paulin chairs in reception, a long and winding sofa by Koz Susani Design in a lounge, and an impressive 16-foot-diameter conference table in the boardroom, which itself is round in shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Overhead
In the atrium of the Rock Ventures and the Rock Family of Companies headquarters in Detroit by Pophouse, a spiral staircase rises from a mosaic-tile installation by Faile that incor\u00adpo\u00adrates words important to the ethos of the companies and the city itself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also key to the office\u2019s concept is lively artwork, on which Pophouse collaborated with Library Street Collective, a downtown Detroit gallery that focuses on artists, both local and not, who push boundaries. One standout piece, by Faile, anchors the grand staircase: It spirals down to a colorful round of inlaid mosaic tile incorporating such words as \u201cheart,\u201d \u201chope,\u201d and \u201cdream.\u201d \u201cIt embodies all the great work happening in our city,\u201d says Fehan, who came to Detroit for college and then stayed. Pophouse surrounded the installation with a C-shape bench made of modular sections that can be removed so the area can be used for events. The inclusion of works by local artists Jason Revok and the late Charles McGee underscore the Detroit-proud theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
In founder and chairman Dan Gilbert\u2019s office, Tyrrell Winston\u2019s site-specific assemblage of 168 deflated basketballs includes some from the Cleveland Cavaliers, which Gilbert owns. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then there are the basketball-related installations. A wall in Dan Gilbert\u2019s office is devoted to a Tyrrell Winston assemblage comprised of dozens of deflated basketballs, including, of course, a couple from the Cavaliers. Outside his office, a room-size walk-in closet has a shelf with autographed balls plus, hanging from clothing rods, various team jerseys from which a lucky visitor might get to make a selection to take home. \u201cWe used to have all the Cavs things stuffed in a storage closet,\u201d Jennifer Gilbert says. \u201cWhy not celebrate it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She and her team also paid homage to her husband\u2019s \u201cisms\u201d\u2014sayings such as \u201cyes before no\u201d and \u201csimplicity is genius\u201d\u2014in the auditorium, where Cody Hudson rendered them on acoustical wall panels; rift-cut white-oak millwork here and throughout the headquarters further dampen sound. For the auditorium\u2019s seating, the designers used sleight of hand: a benching system that incorporates Eames Molded Plywood Dining Chairs, minus their chrome legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n