Scott + Hespen
Law Office Interior Design
Looking for Lawyer Office Interior Design?
Scott + Hespen Law
Two Suites, One Composed Practice
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Client
Scott + Hespen Law
Location
St. Paul, Minnesota
Space Type
Law office — estate planning practice in a historic building
Scope
Expansion and full redesign of a law practice — merging an existing office with a newly acquired adjacent suite to double usable space, with a fresh brand-aligned aesthetic, reconfigured layout, and creative solutions for a character-rich historic building.
THE SPACE BEFORE
The partners felt boxed in. Their existing office was tight, dated, and didn’t reflect where the firm was headed. They’d acquired the adjacent suite to double their footprint, but two separate spaces don’t automatically feel like one — especially in a historic building with sloping floors, skylights that landed in awkward spots, and all the structural personality that comes with age.
THE DESIGN DIRECTION
Scott + Hespen wanted a space that felt elegant and grounded, with a twist of personality. This is an estate planning practice — clients come in to have meaningful, sometimes emotional conversations about their future. The environment needed to support that. The palette was built around sophisticated wood and tweed patterns, anchored by a regal plum accent. That color wasn’t just aesthetic — plum promotes mental balance and peace of mind, making it a deliberate choice for the kind of work that happens here.
WHAT WE WORKED WITH (AND AROUND)
Making two spaces feel like one. Acquiring the adjacent suite doubled the square footage, but without a thoughtful approach it would’ve read as an addition bolted on. We moved reception to the center of the two newly joined spaces, creating a composed entrance that gives the office a completely new perspective. You’d never know the space was once two separate suites.
Skylights in all the wrong places. The historic building had large skylights that fell in unfortunate spots within the original layout. Instead of working around them, we reconfigured the floor plan to make them an asset — positioning workspaces and common areas so the daylight enters in a balanced, pleasing way. What was an annoyance became an architectural feature.
Floors that slope and a building that shows its age. Significantly sloping floors are a reality of older buildings, and they can undermine even the best design. We used flexible materials at the floor and base, then introduced a dominant large-scale linear pattern that draws the eye forward and visually floats past the inconsistencies. The pattern also connects the two joined spaces into a single visual flow.
A conservative remodel budget. The building owners kept the budget tight. We retained existing walls wherever possible and repurposed the space’s original doors and windows to support the new design. The result is a completely fresh environment that was built as much by editing as by adding.
THE OUTCOME
The partners went from feeling confined to feeling like they’d moved into a different building — without changing their address. The doubled footprint reads as a single, cohesive practice. Reception is now a composed arrival that sets the tone: calm, polished, and quietly confident.
The plum accent carries through the space with just enough presence to give the firm a signature without overpowering the sophistication of the wood and tweed palette. For clients walking in to discuss estate planning, the environment does something important before the conversation even starts — it signals that this firm pays attention to details, thinks intentionally, and creates space for the things that matter most.
RECOGNITION
Featured: Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal — Cool Offices