10.6.09 | Washington, DC | Mancini Duffy’s DC office is please to announce that their design for the 71,000 square foot offices of United Communications Group in Gaithersburg, Maryland has won a Citation Award by the AIA Potomac Valley Chapter.  The UCG facility supports an open-environment workplace for a staff of over 300, as well as a 1,500-square-foot state-of-the-art 24/7 data center and 5,000-square-foot production center, critical elements to the functioning of the client's business.

“As our design directive for the offices, we took as our theme "Communication as Architecture," reflecting our client's stature as a leading B2B media firm”, explains Anik Jhaveri, AIA, Design Principal. Throughout the offices, floating ceiling planes with sleek "racing stripe" lighting slots, carpet with bold graphic stripes, and striking accent colors emphasize speed and connectivity. Since light levels are extremely important to UCG's operations as a media firm  as well as to UCG's culture of progressiveness - the space maximizes daylight and provides open views from all occupants' workstations. 

As part of UCG's green initiative, they moved to a paperless office, all workstations, carpet and paint utilize low volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and all furniture systems are Greenguard certified, using recycled steel, wood fiber and textile. All plastics in the furniture are black, allowing for the elimination of cadmium, a toxic metal. 

The Award Certificate was presented on September 19, 2009. 

Anik Jhaveri, AIA and Yves Springuel, AIA are Principals in ManciniDuffy’s Washington, DC office. Founded almost 90 years ago, ManciniDuffy is headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in Washington, DC, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Also, as a member of IPID, International Partners in Design, Mancini•Duffy serves the diverse needs of its expanding multi-national client base across the U.S. and in Great Britain, Europe, East Asia and Australia.