National LGBT Chamber of Commerce A Dynamic Space for a Champion of LGBT Rights

The Challenge

Leaders at NGLCC asked HKS to repurpose a sterile commercial furniture showroom into an inviting headquarters for their nonprofit, while finding a style reflective of the group’s identity and the different aesthetic preferences of its two co-founders.

The Design Solution

HKS reimagined the showroom to create a bright, professional look for NGLCC, also known as the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, which had recently undergone a brand makeover. The NGLCC headquarters feature a custom graphic that deconstructs the nonprofit’s new logo and showcases its vibrant colors.

The HKS team preserved the wood floors to create a warm environment and enhanced existing spaces to boost the nonprofit’s capacity to host events. It outfitted a glass rotunda room with furniture and audio/visual equipment that could be arranged in different configurations to accommodate anything from a board meeting to a cocktail party. Designers eliminated a wall that had enclosed a catering pantry and transformed it into a sleek space that now doubles as an employee break area and a bar for entertaining

HKS worked with NGLCC’s co-founders to personalize their individual offices. The rest of the workspace elegantly merges modern and traditional elements favored by the nonprofit’s leaders.

The Design Impact

The renovation allowed NGLCC to move into a space where its team could work more communally by sharing a single floor. Since settling into this office in 2018, the nonprofit has received business leaders from around the world and hosted panels, a news conference and other gatherings, including a reception following a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral for gay-rights icon Matthew Shepard.

NGLCC’s partner organizations frequently request the space for their own meetings and events.