All photos by Joseph Mills Photography

How do you turn a hard-to-find, reverberant penthouse space into a “secret room” for tenants to use for meetings and events?

The space is in an old structure that everyone knew as the Journal Record Building - but the last issue of the Journal Record produced at this address was dated April 19, 1995. That’s the day that the most destructive act of domestic terrorism took place next door, at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The identity as the old Journal Record Building understandably stuck. That was until a couple decades later when the current owner - a self-described history buff - bought the building and discovered that the original features of the Masonic Lodge were intact beneath a 1947 façade. The firm of Layton, Hicks and Forsyth [the same firm designed the Oklahoma State Capitol and the Skirvin Hotel] had completed the Masons’ building in 1923, but construction cost overruns and the Great Depression meant that the Masons had to move out in 1937, unable to afford the building that had been built for them.

To make the numbers work for the current owner, a penthouse level needed to be added to the old building. After this shell work was done by others, it was clear that additional work was needed at the penthouse elevator lobby and a space planned as a shared amenity for tenants. The problem was that, when arriving by elevator, visitors were greeted head-on with a ramp that didn’t appear to go anywhere special. But in fact, at the top of the ramp, just out of view, was a door. This opaque door was the entrance to a room with a great view, but inside the room there were more problems… a large relite oddly connected it with an adjacent tenant space and the only opaque wall awkwardly hosted a bank of cabinets. Downlights lit the room with a dull uniformity, and a material palette of hard surfaces rendering the unacceptably reverberant. There was some work to do before it became the destination space for the building’s tenants.

The design solution is inspired by the building's original purpose as a Masonic Lodge. Masons’ tools symbolize phases of their gatherings, Meet (level) Act (plumb bob) and Part (square). Consequently, dramatically lit vintage tools on a backdrop of salvaged limestone entice visitors up the ramp. Historic photos and didactics along the way connect visitors with the building's past. A custom door with leather-wrapped hardware now leads to the room. Leather chairs and sofa compliment the custom designed tables, "sofa cart" and light shades. New metal wing walls make the cabinets appear to belong in the room. New focused lighting in the custom steel light shades dramatically define the gathering zones in the room. A rug, fabric wall panels and curtain work to calm the room acoustics and address privacy.

The entry sequence emphasized with dramatic lighting; tools presented as art; the Masonic Temple's history; and the palette of authentic materials reinforce a feeling of being in a secret place... a secret place available for use by any building tenant.