Context Design Group has designed the 10,000 SF New Operations Center for Cornerstone National Bank in Easley, SC. The facility is situated on a site directly adjacent to the main bank in a separate structure. The exterior character of the facility is designed to complement the existing bank while projecting an image of its own to the local community and employees who occupy the new structure. Context Design Group utilized their programming techniques to meet with bank employees at all levels of the organization to develop and establish an overall program for the facility prior to beginning design activities. Once the program was agreed to with bank executives, then Context Design Group developed multiple options for both organizational layout and image of the facility and worked with Cornerstone executives to select the proper facility to meet their functional needs.
The facility is designed to house three internal bank operations departments (Mortgage Lending, Operations, and Human Resources) along with a “state-of-the-art” Information Technology Center which is designed to handle all IT server functions for all current and future bank locations. The facility has a full redundant power system to support all banking functions if the primary power supply is lost. On the second level is an employee training room which is set-up to support a flexible training environment for initial and continuing training activities of the bank.
The facility is also designed with a small tenant space to house 1 or 2 strategic bank tenants on the mail level with direct access to public parking.
The building is designed to be a non-combustible building comprised of a steel frame with metal roof trusses, brick veneer with cast stone accent bands with curved copper roof entry focal points. The interior incorporates the use of the latest materials with a blend of private and open office functions.