2024 Professional Portfolio by Frances Bates

Clara Luper Center for Educational Services

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

GSB transformed the former Central National Bank building through adaptive reuse into the Clara Luper Center for Educational Services. The three-story, 40,000 SF renovation and 10,600 SF addition serves as the district administration building for Oklahoma City Public Schools, the state’s largest school district.

The main building features numerous offices, conference rooms and collaboration areas for approximately 160 employees. The basement, now known as “The Vault” contains a large staff lounge with a variety of seating options, training rooms and the original bank vault. The original bank vault was stripped of its safe deposit boxes and converted into a storm shelter that can accommodate all building occupants in inclement weather.

The building addition was designed to be complimentary and contemporary in style, utilizing the former bank’s retro mosaic tiles, metal panels, large angled storefront windows, and sloping simulated wood soffit. The addition contains the center’s main entrance and reception area, which serves as a controlled access point between the administrative staff’s wing and the large multipurpose room. The large multipurpose room is used for regular school board meetings, professional development sessions and community events.

This project received a 2021 AGC of Oklahoma Build Oklahoma Award and a 2021 AIA Oklahoma People’s Choice Award for Adaptive Reuse. It was featured in the 2022 Architectural Portfolio issue of American School & University Magazine.

MAPS 3 Health & Wellness Center No. 4

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

MAPS 3 Health and Wellness Center No. 4 is a city owned active adults center. The 45,000 SF center is operated by the YMCA and designed for Oklahoma City residents 50 years and older. The project’s objective is to foster healthy active lifestyles, social interactions and improve members’ overall quality of life. The program includes a mix of fitness facilities, social spaces and multipurpose rooms to support a wide variety of group activities, educational programs and other events.

The center is configured along a linear corridor with a central entry point to simplify wayfinding and minimize travel distances from the main entrance. The centrally located lobby and great room serve as a welcome center and social hub, offering a variety of furniture options, coffee bar, and views overlooking an existing pond. The great room opens into a library, while the adjacent game room offers ping pong, game tables and billiards. One wing of the facility contains staff offices and break room, private consultation rooms, an art studio and two multipurpose activity rooms, one outfitted with a demonstration kitchen. The opposite wing contains all fitness spaces; two group fitness studios, a 75’ indoor pool, a second walking track overlooking the fully equipped fitness center and gymnasium.

To accommodate the older user group, the design incorporates wide corridors, oversized restrooms, ample glazing and higher lighting levels, special attention to acoustical treatments, extra seating opportunities, privacy features and enhanced accessibility measures both inside and outside the building.

Oklahoma City Convention Center

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The MAPS 3 Oklahoma City Convention Center is located in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City, fitted seamlessly into its urban surroundings. The center sits adjacent to the new Omni Hotel, the beautiful Scissortail Park, the iconic Skydance Bridge, the Paycom Center (home to the OKC Thunder), and the soon to be renovated historic Union Station. The convention center contributes to the transformation of the downtown area, creating a gathering place for residents and visitors to enjoy. The center was designed to accommodate the growing city and elevate Oklahoma City’s capacity for hosting meetings and conventions at a national level.

The Oklahoma City Convention Center is created with flexible meeting rooms that interact with one another and their surroundings. The 500,000 SF building includes a 200,730 SF exhibit hall that can be divided into four individual halls and expanded into an outdoor plaza using large overhead doors. The building also includes 45,000 SF of meeting spaces distributed amongst all the floors. Many of the meeting spaces contain operable walls contributing to the flexibility of the spaces and their ability to be configured into 27 meeting spaces. Located on the third floor is a 9,700 SF junior ballroom and on the fourth floor is a 30,000 SF ballroom and prefunction space with a large balcony overlooking Scissortail Park.

The project received a 2021 International Partnering Institute, John L. Martin Partnered Project of the Year Award, 2022 Urban Land Institute Impact Award for Outstanding Public Initiative, and the 2023 AIA Oklahoma People’s Choice Award for Civic Architecture.

04 Regency at Ten Trails Clubhouse

Black Diamond, Washington

The Regency at Ten Trails Clubhouse is a residential amenity center that is exclusive to the residents of Regency at Ten Trails, a luxurious active adult, master-planned community in Black Diamond, Washington. The 10,000 SF resort-style Clubhouse amenities include a fitness center, indoor pool, locker rooms, staff offices, social and club lounges equipped with a fireplace, catering kitchen and bar areas. The facility’s outdoor amenities include multiple covered patios, shade structures, outdoor fireplaces, event lawn, bocce ball courts, pickleball courts, dog park, and beautiful views of Mt. Rainier.

FLOOR PLAN

United States

Dual-Branded Kimpton & Staybridge Suites Hotel will be in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The two hotels will stand side-byside with a shared basement parking garage and first floor connection allowing access to shared amenities, but the buildings and experiences will be entirely unique. The 7-story design forward Kimpton features 175 guest rooms, main-level restaurant, ballroom, lobby lounge and bar, terrace space and rooftop bar, while the 6-story Staybridge Suites will house 127 suites with in-suite workspaces, lobby board room and conference rooms suited for extended stay guests.

The new EVEN Hotels prototype was developed to be more efficient to build and operate. The prototype showcases an updated exterior design, refreshed restaurant and integrated wellness experience with in-room fitness options and state-of-theart athletic studio. These changes were designed with flexibility and choice in mind to broaden EVEN Hotels’ guest appeal whether they desire a healthy lifestyle experience or simply an upscale stay.

The Holiday Inn Hotels revised prototype design incorporates value design modifications and updates to the guestrooms, exterior façade design and public area and BOH layouts. The new Holiday Inn H5 Prototype v2 exterior has a reduced porte cochere width, parapet height, quantity of simulated wood panels and has removed all stacked stone.

The Holiday Inn Express Hotels new prototype reflects a more modern and cost-efficient design. The prototype has an increased room count within the existing efficient site size, redesigned exterior façade featuring bold colors and simplified construction means, a streamlined building layout and maximized BOH efficiency.

Putnam City Schools Centennial Center

Warr Acres, Oklahoma

The Putnam City Schools Centennial Center and Park were designed to serve as the town center for Putnam City. The Centennial Center is a multi-purpose facility that provides a professional development center for the district staff and faculty, a community center for civic organizations, a performing arts center, history center, school board center for the board of education and an administrative center. The building is divided into two wings, the administrative center for district staff and the professional development and community center.

The 2-story administrative center has a controlled access point for staff safety and houses seven different departments. Each department’s program and furniture were curated to meet their specific needs, including reception areas, private offices, open office workstations, conference and meeting rooms, storage, kitchenettes and work rooms. The administrative center also includes professional development training and meeting rooms ranging in size, located off the administrative commons for all departments to utilize. The administrative commons provides a variety of lounge and collaboration spaces for all staff, as well as, an opportunity to display students’ work throughout the center.

The single-story community center and professional development wing has large common spaces ideal for showcasing the school district’s history. This building wing is entered through a grand lobby rotunda where history exhibits will be on display. The rotunda was designed to be flexible, to allow for the changing and moving of exhibits. The modular furniture can be reconfigured and the track lighting redirected. The rotunda’s hardwood oak flooring is even a history exhibition. The hardwood oak flooring was preserved from the district’s iconic Arnett Building, where the school district was born a hundred years ago.

The new school board meeting room is a three-tiered multipurpose space that can expand to accommodate large groups and can further expand into the building’s prefunction with overhead folding glass doors when needed. The meeting rooms will be used for professional development, celebrations and events. Also, utilized for professional development is the performing arts center. The midsize auditorium seats approximately 330 people and will primarily be a venue for elementary and middle school uses. The inclusive facility is easily accessible with its spacious commons and singleuser gender neutral restrooms.