Steppenwolf is an artist-driven theater with an appetite for groundbreaking work. A younger generation of artists and an interest in producing exciting works on a smaller scale led to the opening of a special performance space on the first floor of the parking garage building. The assignment was to bring the Steppenwolf Garage brand to life in a very tangible way through the design of its lobby and lounge. We were challenged to make an immediate statement about what sets the Steppenwolf Garage apart from other theaters, including Steppenwolf’s own main stage to people entering the space. That statement would have to be appropriate for all the works presented by this innovative company, a list of plays that will vary wildly in structure, mood, style and ambitions. The design tells the story of Steppenwolf through an immersive brand experience of its world—creating plays, bringing them to life and celebrating them. The furniture is from Steppenwolf’s prop room, so it blurs the lines between stage and audience, theater and life. A wall made of scripts (5,800 pounds of paper) invites you behind the scenes into the minds of the people who wrote them. A wall of reclaimed, ebonized wood mirrors the intricacy of developing and presenting a play by leading your eye from a simple, regular pattern to a complex focal point where you see more depth. The final solution creates a comprehensive narrative from the smallest details (theater programs) to the largest (theater signage/interior) all of which celebrate accomplishments worthy of it’s A-list ensemble members (John Malkovich, John Mahoney, Joan Allen, Gary Sinise, Martha Plimpton, Tracy Letts, to name a few.