Union Plaza Building
Oklahoma City, OK
The challenge for this project was to create a “portrait” of a product you cannot see, smell, touch or taste. The concept is to tell the story and the history of the origins of Natural Gas; its discovery, its use and how the GHK Company has been instrumental in its development.
We have used the space as a living museum with both historical and modern artifacts to tell the story of Methane gas.
The space is located on the 18th floor of the Union Plaza Building in Oklahoma City. When the elevator doors open, visitors are greeted with entry into a linear entry hall punctuated with elevator door “portals” rimmed in light. The linear quality of the space is accentuated by wood strip flooring and a full length berber rug.
With a view toward the entry lobby, the focal point is a 6,000 pound stainless steel natural gas wellhead valued at $300,000. This functional sculpture stands as an example of mans technological advancement and as an instrument to probe the earth’s deepest depths.
The space is topped by a 40 foot long, cycloid vault floating in light. Accent lighting is provided by suspended low voltage wire lighting. The signage appears in the 12″ x 12″ Oklahoma pink granite tiles that are inlaid in the wood floor. The initials GHK, the Chinese characters for natural gas, and the molecular structure of Methane gas (CH4) combine to represent the Company, its relationship to the Chinese (who discovered natural gas), and the resource both have in common.
