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K&L Gates Gets its Name in Lights

By Brian Harris

Photo by Nate Raymond

By Gina Passarella
Of the Legal Staff

K&L Gates closed down its Pittsburgh office at the Henry W. Oliver building Thursday at 6 p.m. and re-opened Monday at 7 a.m. about a block away in the newly renovated K&L Gates Center at 210 Sixth Ave.

Rather than tear a building down and put up a new one in its place, K&L Gates decided to renovate 14 floors of One Oliver Plaza, turning the building into what it hopes will soon be LEED-CI certified. Construction on the project began in October 2008.

Pittsburgh office Administrative Partner Michael G Zanic said the firm?s experience with expansion into new markets has made the moving process a more familiar one. And a team of people who handle these types of moves firmwide make it near seamless, he said ? at least for Zanic who can focus instead on which attorney gets which office.

K&L Gates has a global real estate manager, an architectural firm and a dedicated in-house lawyer that handle all of the firm?s real estate transactions and designs.

Zanic said he has heard little in the way of complaints as of Monday afternoon. Most of the orange crates have been removed as the staff and attorneys have unpacked their belongings. Computers and phones seem to be working well.

While having the firm?s name atop all four sides of the building was a plus, it wasn?t the driver behind the move. But Zanic said that in terms of morale, it gives personnel something to be proud of and it?s also a signal to the Pittsburgh community that the firm is committed to the city and there to stay.

Among the new features of the building, Zanic said he is told aspects of the lighting system are the first of their kind in the United States. The lights dim and brighten on their own depending on the amount of natural light in the room ? a system known as daylight harvesting. Custom German-manufactured light fixtures make up 40 percent of the project. Light fixtures that perform at 75 percent efficiency rather than 40 percent or 50 percent are also included, saving on initial material and energy costs. More than 75 percent of the space will have access to natural daylight.

The new space also has a renovated two-storey lobby and adjoining plaza with new trees and metal grates for a more sustainable soil technology. The new, two-storey multipurpose/conference space required the removal of a critical beam, which the firm said was a tough feat in a steel building of its design.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on March 22, 2010 (boomark / email).