O’Brien Atkins has provided the full range of site planning, architectural and engineering design services for the State Employees’ Credit Union’s (SECU) capital building program assisting SECU with providing a branch office in each of North Carolina’s 200 counties. SECU is one of the nation’s second largest credit unions with assets in excess of $25 billion.

Most projects involved two main elements: site and building. The site design required careful planning to provide for permitting, member and staff parking, multiple drive-up lanes for ATM and financial transactions, adequate stack space for drive-up lanes, solid waste receptacle pad and screen, circulation, driveway entrances into the site (usually two), lighting, sidewalks, landscaping and utility extensions. The building contains those functions normally associated with a financial institution including lobby, teller line, vault, offices, file/records room, balance room, storage, mechanical/electrical room, restrooms, breakroom and other support spaces.

O’Brien Atkins’ building services generally included evaluation of potential branch office sites; feasibility studies of expansion potential of existing offices and their sites; renovation of all or a portion of existing offices; new branches – prototypical office sizes are 4,200 sf, 6,650 sf, 7,800 sf and 9,900 sf; space planning of various departmental areas in central office spaces; additions to existing offices which range from several hundred square feet to four thousand square feet; complete renovation of a 100,000 sf operations center which was acquired from a major North Carolina bank; and parking lot expansions and related site work.

Pictured: SECU Rolesville, NC