The Architecture of Success
Branch design can enhance customer service and market appeal

When it comes to architectural design, more than a building is at stake. The choices financial institutions make, whether in small renovations or in a huge ground-up project, most definitely impact the way they connect with the customer.

“The image or identity of an institution results in part from the visual image of its facility,” says Gray Plosser, president of KPS Group in Birmingham, Ala., and a member of the American Institute of Architects. “Bank buildings have traditionally been icons communicating strength and longevity.”

Architectural decisions can, and should, tap into the brand of an institution. They can acknowledge a local commitment by incorporating art that tells a story about the community. They can restore old buildings, linking themselves with a community’s history. They can cross-market, drawing in a more diverse client base. They can choose environmental options that enhance the quality of life.

The Peoples Bank in Downs, Ill., spent $1.8 million to create a cross-marketing facility that would bring in a broad range of potential clients. Construction began in April 2003 and lasted for two years.

More than a bank, the building is now a one-stop shopping experience. From an on-site café and drycleaners to an inviting lobby with padded chairs and wooden desks, everything about the design encourages clients to drop by and linger.

Ed Vogelsinger, president of PNB Holding Co., the parent of Peoples Bank, had a vision for increasing customer traffic and bringing the bank wider exposure to a new set of potential clients. So the new facility was built to share space with retailers—specifically a coffee shop and drycleaners.

Along with attracting new clients, the setup allows the bank to soft sell additional banking services such as loans, financial planning and online investments to their broader customer base. The businesses even cross-market for each other, with the ATM programmed to produce coupons for discounts at the coffee shop and dry cleaners, and those two retailers delivering bank brochures and coupons to their patrons.

The bank’s target demographics include younger, two-income families that appreciate the ease of accessing money at the cash station, dropping off their dry cleaning and purchasing coffee all in one trip. As an added convenience, all business transactions can be done without leaving the car. All that combined convenience was supposed to translate to higher traffic, and it seems to have worked.

“Strictly from a retail banking perspective, we are excited about the steady stream of traffic produced by the coffee shop and dry cleaners,” Vogelsinger says. “Many or even most of these individuals may never have come into a new stand-alone banking facility.”

The building’s contemporary look supports the overall concept of ultimate convenience. The main entry leads into the community area between the retailers and the bank. A comfortable lounge area encourages customers to enjoy a cup of coffee while they work on their laptops or hold a business meeting. A 20-foot skylight in the center of the banking area provides natural light and plays off the central dome of the classic bank design. The use of open glass for the office connects staff to the rest of the space and allows for oversight of all foot traffic.

The atmosphere encourages a slower pace once inside the building. A number of regulars enjoy sitting in the cushioned chairs in front of the plasma screen on the café wall.

“People will invite friends to meet them for coffee and sandwiches in the café,” Vogelsinger explains, adding that many of the friends are not yet bank customers, a condition the bank intends to remedy quickly.

Baker Boyer National Bank in Walla Walla, Wash., wanted to remodel in a way that emphasized its 135 years in the community. Now the proof is painted all over the walls—literally.

Murals at multiple branches share the story of the unique historical connections between the bank and the local community is an important detail.

“Banks can be so sterile and cold,” says Megan Clubb, president and CEO, and the great, great granddaughter of Baker Boyer National’s founder. “We wanted a completely different experience for our clients, a warm and inviting environment they love dropping by. They really appreciate a comfortable and private atmosphere where they can feel at home and learn a little history while conducting their banking business.”

Forty-five years after the branch was built, the bank remodeled and expanded its 1950s Eastgate building. The bank’s history wall, painted by a local artist, pays homage to the area’s history and the bank’s influence in the Walla Walla Valley. In future renovations, all branches will include a history wall unique to the community designed to blend the history of the bank with the history of the local area. Each branch also will have large-scale pictures of different crops to showcase local agriculture.

Because the bank’s co-founder Dorsey Baker National was instrumental in the founding of local railroads and railroads were prominent in the growth of Walla Walla, a railroad theme was adopted for Eastgate’s history wall. The mural also encompasses other features of the Walla Walla Valley, including wheat fields, pheasants and the Blue Mountains.

“The first thing clients notice is our agricultural wall. They appreciate the bank acknowledging this is an agricultural community,” Clubb says. “The history pieces are also a great conversation starter for clients to tell us their story. Because we have been banking our clients for generations, we often have clients relate stories of their relatives who knew our founders.”

When the First National Bank of Hope in Hope, Ark., needed new office space, the question was whether to stay in downtown Hope or head to the suburbs. The bank opted to remain downtown, with ground-up construction in the middle of a city block the bank already owned.

Wanting to create a new facility with a warm, colonial feel and every modern convenience, President Charles Sharpe studied numerous examples of 19th-century buildings. The result of the planning now rises more than 100 feet from the ground to the tip of the cupola—a three-story colonial masterpiece.

A plaza of brick pavers and concrete serves as function space at the front of the building. Crown molding, tile and chair rails give the vestibule an elegant feel. A three-story rotunda opens up to reveal a skylight that lights the interior, while a fountain dominates the center of the lobby.

Despite the traditional design, plenty of modern touches dot the lobby. Three state-of-the-art digital flat screens promote additional products and services of the bank and broadcast local news, weather and sports. There’s also a refreshment stand.

The end result is “comfortable, more like a living room than a bank,” according to Sharpe, who notes the “previous building was the typical ’50s kind of cold. The core of this is comfortable.”

Home Savings Bank in Madison, Wis., lets customers see and feel the effects of going green with a certified green-built branch.

For Home Savings, it’s not a new concern: Thirty years ago, spurred by the national energy crisis, Home Savings built the first solar-powered branch in the state. Yet the community feels ripe for green options in a way that it hasn’t in previous years.

The bank’s Greener Choices Checking saves paper and gas with electronic options, plus uses checks made from recycled paper. A mortgage program rewards customers with lower rates for building green, plus lower rates on home loans for green-geared remodeling projects. The bank also offers investment advisors have become well-versed in investment choices that contain a sustainable component.

Expected to receive Wisconsin’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the Green Building Council, the green “Home Savings” branch serves as a hands-on showcase for the concrete (literally) results of green practices. Abundant natural lights cuts down on the need for artificial lighting at the $2 million branch. Ten times the required amount of fresh air is circulated. From concrete flooring to desks made from sunflower seed husks, every detail can spark ideas.

“Because we’re a retail business, we can have people come in and realize it’s not that difficult to do these things and that you can have a higher quality experience being in them,” Bradley says. “These are things they could do in their own homes or businesses.”

Ginny Phillips is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in Independent Banker and American Profile. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama. She can be reached at ginrearden@earthlink.net