Skylights infuse natural light and new life into marketing firm’s adaptive-use office
VELUX® Modular System brightens Charlotte-based marketing firm Wray Ward
In 2020, Wray Ward completed the construction of their new office at 2317 Thrift Road in the FreeMoreWest area of Charlotte, North Carolina. The agency, which has over 40 years of experience and specializes in the home building and design market, needed a new headquarters for its growing staff of over 150 employees. The 39,000-square-foot space houses offices, meeting rooms and a photography studio under one roof in a hybrid adaptive-use and new-construction project. VELUX Commercial Skylights provide ample natural light throughout the building for an environment that promotes collaboration and creativity.
Design challenge
Wray Ward wanted to incorporate diffuse, natural light to create a space where employees would feel both energized and creative. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of exposure to natural light throughout the workday, including improved mood and more restful sleep, but many offices only offer some light from small windows. And while the two-story stadium seating, dubbed Town Hall, features full-length windows, the light from windows can be angled and inconsistent, leading to shadows that can change the look and feel of a space.
Design solution
To solve this problem, Brooks Runkle, founding principal of Redline Design Group, incorporated three types of VELUX Commercial Skylights: the VELUX Modular Skylight System (VMS), VELUX Commercial Sun Tunnels® and VELUX No Leak Fixed Curb-Mounted Skylights.
Runkle designed three VMS Longlights into the building. The largest, a 15-module Longlight, bathes Town Hall in natural light.
“In the front of the building, we wanted a large, dramatic piece that links the first and second floors to draw your eye up to the ceiling, so you can experience the whole town hall,” Runkle said. “It creates a lot of drama.”
Two shorter Longlights — each with three modules — bring natural light to the creative department, which sits on the building’s west side, throughout the day. All the Longlights have both fixed and venting modules and remote-controlled, light-filtering shades.
Three VELUX Commercial Sun Tunnels line the northwest wall of the creative department to fill otherwise dark areas.
“The Sun Tunnel Skylights are a nice, subtle and cost-effective way to bring natural light to the creative area,” Runkle said.
Two VELUX Fixed Curb-Mounted Skylights brighten an interior workspace the agency has dubbed The Den, where web developers and digital designers collaborate.
Runkle, who also designed the agency’s last office, said both projects influenced the use of VELUX skylights in Redline’s new office. The skylights are one of the first things visiting clients notice.
“Now all of our clients want VELUX in their projects, too,” he said. “They kind of sell themselves.”
Natural light, a new perspective
Wray Ward’s new office utilizes modern elements while highlighting the original structure through natural materials and diffuse, natural light. A beautiful, energizing space for collaboration and creativity, it is the ideal home for the established agency to step into its bright future.
Project Details:
- Project – Wray Ward
- Project type – Adaptive Reuse, New Construction
- Location – Charlotte, North Carolina
- Industry – Commercial
- Application – Branding and Marketing Communications
- Architects – Redline Design Group
- Year – Opened in 2020
- Daylighting products – VELUX Modular Skylight System, VELUX No Leak Fixed Curb-Mounted Skylights and VELUX Commercial Sun Tunnel Skylights
- Skylight installer – JP Ross & Co.