BullStreet’s new state-of-the-art office building debuts with first tenant. Take a look inside

You can’t deny the progress currently happening at Columbia’s BullStreet District.

It’s readily apparent when you visit the massive former State Mental Hospital site, where construction crews are moving dirt, swinging hammers and pushing forward on a host of projects. Those include converting the historic Babcock Building into apartments, building the coming Iron Hill Brewery, and constructing the new Bennet apartment development that will bring nearly 300 more residences near Segra Park.

And in the middle of that swirl of activity, a longtime Columbia law firm is stepping into the future in the newest building on the BullStreet site.

Robinson Gray Stepp & Laffitte, a decades-old Columbia firm that specializes in litigation, business and other areas of the law, recently moved into the newly constructed WestLawn building, which is located just west of Segra Park, near the BullStreet Starbucks and REI stores. The law firm occupies the expansive fourth and fifth floors of the building. There will be retail space available on the first floor, and the remaining floors will be office space.

This isn’t the first time Robinson Gray has been on the leading edge of a district in Columbia. For more than 20 years it was located at 1310 Gadsden St. in the Vista. It acquired that building at a time when the Vista was only beginning to show signs of the vibrant area it would eventually become.

Having outgrown the space on Gadsden Street — the firm has more than 90 employees — Robinson Gray is setting up shop at WestLawn in BullStreet, another district that is in the nascent stages of becoming one of Columbia’s key destinations.

Robinson Gray managing partner Cal Watson said he thinks BullStreet and the WestLawn building are a perfect fit for the law firm.

“I think it is great that we are a part of the next chapter of our firm and of the city,” Watson told The State during a recent tour of the facility. “I really feel like (BullStreet) is a great development and a great thing for the city of Columbia. ... This building is a nod to not only a great design for the city of Columbia, but also a way we can provide some amenities and a nice working environment for our employees and everybody that is here.”

The WestLawn building was designed by highly regarded architecture firm Perkins&Will, in collaboration with Robinson Gray and BullStreet master developer Hughes Development. It was constructed using engineered mass timber, making it one of only 400 such buildings in the U.S. In all, the WestLawn building is about 80,000 square feet.

Robinson Gray’s space in the building has exposed wood ceilings and other trimmings, as well as exposed steel beams and touches that signal a modern design on an historical site. The building has abundant large windows that infuse the space with natural light. And there is a spacious cafe on the fifth floor that leads to an airy outdoor terrace.

The terrace offers sweeping views of the BullStreet site — views that offer a glance at the other construction actively happening adjacent to WestLawn — and of the downtown Columbia skyline. The massive video board at Segra Park is clearly visible to the east of the building from the terrace.

“What a great place to be, for us to be able to be on the cusp of all of this,” Watson said during the recent tour, as he stood on the terrace and looked across the BullStreet site and toward downtown.

BullStreet is a gigabit community, with internet speeds much faster than traditional broadband. Robinson Gray marketing director Janie Langdale said that is just one of the amenities the firm looks forward to capitalizing on in its new space.

“At the end of the day, we want to provide the best work we can for our clients, and we believe the room for collaboration, flexibility of the office layout, integrated gigabit technology and progressive energy around us, all push us to work more efficiently and effectively,” Langdale said.

Robert Hughes, president of Hughes Development, called WestLawn a “signature building” in the development and in Columbia.

“WestLawn’s development was a wonderful partnership with Robinson Gray and some of the best architects, engineers and contractors anywhere,” Hughes said in a statement. “Its design and use of renewable resources and green spaces represent the future of urban office architecture.”