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Andrew
Keithly

The Studio Bank Project

Jun 13, 2023

Studio Bank, a boutique bank in Nashville, TN worked with Anecdote Architectural Experiences to design their second office and branch. The floor plan is bright and inviting, with traditional private offices and several meeting rooms, as well as a central open-office zone and a large, multi-purpose event space for community engagement. Anecdote wanted to strike a balance between communal spaces to foster creativity, without discarding individual privacy.


I was commissioned to do architectural photography of both the bank branch on the first floor and the corporate office on the second floor. Both spaces are filled with incredible art murals painted by local artists, high ceilings, and an open perimeter to allow sunlight to reach far into the interior of the building.


If you love this project, see more of my architectural photography here: https://www.studioagk.com/



The Bank

This first shot is probably my favorite, largely due to the work involved in removing an air duct blocking the view of the mural. I can't remember the name of the dog, but they have a mascot French bulldog, who is the inspiration for their logo and this mural!

The inside of a boutique bank with a mural of a french bulldog on the wall.


Here is the before:

Bright, modern bank interior with colorful abstract wall art reading "STUDIO A BOUTIQUE BANK." Wooden furniture and cozy seating.

It may not look like a lot of work, but there was no "faking" the mural, it had to be an accurate repair job, so it ended up taking several hours in photoshop. This was before AI!



Another angle of the same space:

Modern office lobby with a wooden reception desk, colorful mural reading "STUDIO," and orange chairs. Glass-walled meeting room visible.

From a photographer's perspective, this was hard, due to all the natural light coming from behind and creating a very flat space. Strobes from the right side fixed that and added a sense of depth to the space.




The Office

The previous photos were of the public facing side of the bank. The rest of these are of their main corporate office, which is located on the floor above.


Yes, that is me in the photo, needing a haircut. This photo is of the reception area, with one of the meeting spaces to the right, and the wood accent wall down the left. The second photo is of the waiting area, located off camera to the left of the reception desk.

Man in plaid shirt leans on reception desk talking to smiling woman. Modern office with wood accents, paintings, and plants. Bright lighting.


There were some fun conference spaces, this being one of them. Those tables were nearly impossible to line up for some reason.

Conference room with long wooden tables, black chairs, and large windows showing an outside view. Bright lighting and a plant in the corner.


Here's the other conference/meeting room; probably one of the architect's favorite spaces.

Two people converse at a table in a glass-walled office with a large screen. Sunlight streams in, and a colorful mural is visible.


This shot is arguably the architectural hero shot, it took quite a bit of time to get right, as the sun kept disappearing behind the clouds. The shadows are mostly natural but are supplemented with strobe lighting around the far couch.

Modern office lounge with wavy ceiling, colorful seating, and large windows. A man reads on a couch; another person is in a glass-walled room.


Break Room

Now we come to the accent wall, and the break room behind it. The second shot here was the only vertical shot we created of the entire space. For both shots I used a touch of flash from the right side of the image to create a little extra contrast. Not a major change, but it helped highlight the incredible wood grain in the photo.

Office hallway with wooden wall featuring plants; woman walking, colorful mural, gray carpet, and exposed ductwork above. Bright atmosphere.

Modern corporate break room with wooden cabinets, open shelves holding mugs and plants. Coffee machine on countertop. Bright and organized space.


Lastly, we have the majority of office space in the back of the building. These were simple, but bright and cheery, with lots of window spaces, and plenty of light.

Modern office interior with gray carpet, cubicles, and glass-walled meeting rooms. Bright lighting, exposed ducts, and abstract art.

Man walking in modern office hallway with glass walls. Inside an office, there’s a desk, two orange chairs, and abstract wall art. Gray carpet.

Overall, this was a delightful project to photograph. Corporate offices usually aren't that exciting, but this one was special. Between the murals, the accent wall and other uses of wood, and the human-centric design of the spaces, it was an incredible commercial space to photograph.

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