A picture paints a thousand words. So, if architecture is art, then maybe walls really do talk. But what do they say?

The walls of the conference center at Storage Technology Corp. in Louisville, CO, outside Denver certainly speak volumes about the company. Before the meeting or presentation even begins, clients know that StorageTek is on the cutting edge in the field of electronic information storage devices.

Initially planned as an interim facility until a new state-of-the-art conference center was built, StorageTek's executive marketing and demonstration center was designed so well that it has become the company's permanent conference facility. It comprises 12,000 square feet within, yet clearly apart from, a manufacturing building on the company's sprawling campus.

Hoover Berg Desmond Architecture and Interior Design, Denver, came to the project with the goal of creating a memorable experience for StorageTek's customers. According to Gary Desmond, FAIA, principal-in-charge, the design team met with employees from various departments at StorageTek in order to arrive at the consensus that this was to be a place for building relationships with clients.

"Their intent was to give customers first-class treatment," explains Desmond. "CEOs would be picked up at their doorstep, flown to Denver and then spend one or two days at StorageTek, where they would be shown the company's products and StorageTek's executives could learn that particular customer's needs. The center was going to be a big part of that process."

Two separate groups of visitors can be accommodated concurrently in the center. In addition to a conference room, each group is provided with its own private telephone room, restrooms and lounge. A reception area and a product demonstration room are shared by the two groups. Marketing support offices are provided for StorageTek's staff.

A starkly simple but strong graphic theme was selected to quietly communicate the company's image. Sloped plaster walls and grid pattern screens initiate this theme as they mark the customer lounges and entries to the conference rooms. What Desmond calls "classic, museum pieces of furniture," such as the Le Corbusier lounge chairs in the reception areas and the Eames executive chairs in the conference rooms, enhance the theme.

Then, the intense color touches of the custom designed area carpets set against the dark hardwood floors punctuate the design. White tiles are set within the wood flooring at points directly below lights in the ceiling. These help create an ambiant light level by reflecting the light that would otherwise be absorbed by the dark wood floors. The carpet pattern complements this lighting technique and helps unify the whole. Computer Chips Mounted to the walls throughout the center are bas-relief sculptures that have the same geometry as integral pieces of computer storage devices. For example, along one wall there are rows of sculptures that look like greatly enlarged computer chips.

One of these bas-relief sculptures is adjacent to an oddly shaped window that looks into the center's demonstration space. With the simple flip of a switch, the window instantly can be made clear or translucent depending on whether or not privacy in the demonstration space is needed during a conference.

The two conference rooms, each with walls that are sloped and not parallel, are non-orthogonal spaces. The purpose of this design, according to Desmond, was to transform a dull warehouse environment into a place where a unique experience could occur. The shapes and colors of the furniture in the conference rooms match this unique experience. The custom designed millwork is made of wood and aluminum with a black laquer finish.

Each conference room has sophisticated audio and video equipment with which StorageTek can present its high-tech products in a high-tech manner. The software package that runs the audio and video is controlled by a touch screen system. It facilitates custom designed presentations that can be altered easily in the middle of a meeting, if necessary.

For its work on StorageTek's executive marketing and demonstration center, Hoover Berg Desmond received an honor award from the western mountain region of the AIA.