Architectural Finishes: How Corio Design Renewed a Fifth Third Bank Interior
A commercial interior can need a new appearance long before its fixtures need replacement. Counters may still serve their purpose. Cabinetry may still provide useful storage. A customer writing table may remain perfectly suited to its location. Yet their finishes can leave the space looking disconnected from the environment the business wants to present.
For property owners and facility managers, the question is practical: how much needs to change to achieve a meaningful transformation?
At Fifth Third Bank, Corio Design used 3M™ DI-NOC™ architectural finishes to renew surfaces across the teller area, customer writing table, cabinetry, a staff work surface, and an access gate. The project’s before-and-after photographs show a coordinated dark woodgrain appearance connecting these different elements.
It is a useful example of commercial space transformation built around existing assets—and of the design and installation decisions that make surface refinishing successful.
The Challenge: Updating the Interior Without Rebuilding Every Fixture
Bank interiors bring together customer service, staff operations, storage, and controlled access. A renovation must consider how these functions relate to one another, as well as how the space looks.
The Fifth Third Bank project photographs show blue-green finishes on the original writing table and access gate, with a different finish on cabinetry in a staff work area. These surfaces occupied different locations, but all contributed to the same interior.
Replacing fixtures can involve more than purchasing new units. Depending on the scope, it may require removal, disposal, fabrication, delivery, coordination with adjoining finishes, and temporary changes to how the space operates.
Replacement remains appropriate when fixtures are damaged, functionally inadequate, or unsuitable for reuse. When the issue is primarily appearance, however, evaluating the existing surfaces can reveal a more focused renovation opportunity.
For this project, the documented transformation centered on giving recognizable interior elements a coordinated new finish.
The Solution: Architectural Finishes That Connect the Space
Architectural films are decorative surface materials used to change the appearance of suitable substrates. Within the DI-NOC range, different products offer looks inspired by materials such as wood, metal, and stone. Product selection depends on the intended application and its requirements. Explore 3M’s DI-NOC product information.
At Fifth Third Bank, the completed photographs show a dark, linear woodgrain treatment repeated across multiple fixtures. Light-colored counter surfaces provide contrast, while the darker elements visually connect the customer and staff areas.
The result comes from considering the interior as a whole. The writing table relates to the teller counter. The gate relates to adjoining panels. Cabinet fronts and a work surface share the same finish direction.
This is the role of architectural surface solutions within a broader design strategy: helping separate elements read as parts of one environment.
What Changed: Five Applications Within One Interior
Teller Counter Fronts and Raised Panels
The completed teller area features dark woodgrain surfaces across counter fronts and raised panels. Repetition creates continuity along the customer service area, while the lighter counter sections remain distinct.
For a large fixture with several service positions, that relationship gives the composition a clear visual order. The finish supports the counter’s overall appearance while allowing its individual functions to remain legible.
Customer Writing Table
The freestanding writing table provides a particularly clear before-and-after comparison.
Its original blue-green base becomes a dark woodgrain structure beneath the light-colored top. The table keeps its recognizable shape, but its relationship to the room changes: it now shares a finish with the teller area behind it.
This is surface transformation at a scale customers encounter directly. A familiar fixture becomes part of the renewed interior through a change in material appearance.
Cabinet Refinishing
The staff-area photographs show cabinet doors and surrounding surfaces with a coordinated woodgrain treatment.
Cabinet refinishing brings its own details: door edges, hardware, openings, and the spacing between components. These small transitions influence whether the completed work looks considered and consistent.
Extending the finish into this area also carries the design beyond the surfaces visible from the main customer approach.
Staff Work Surface
A photographed work surface continues the woodgrain appearance above the cabinetry, creating a connected treatment across horizontal and vertical planes.
Horizontal applications require specific evaluation. Contact, cleaning practices, abrasion, and the condition of the underlying surface should inform material selection. A finish appropriate for a vertical panel is not automatically the right choice for every countertop.
Access Gate and Adjoining Panel
The original blue-green access gate and neighboring panel appear in the project’s measurement photographs. The completed view shows both with the coordinated dark finish.
The gate remains a functional boundary, but it now belongs visually to the surrounding interior. Including these supporting elements helps make a commercial renovation feel complete.
The Design Process: Start with the Space and Its Surfaces
A successful refinishing project begins before material is cut. The following planning considerations are useful for owners, architects, and facility teams evaluating a similar transformation.
Assess Existing Conditions
The first question is whether each fixture is a suitable candidate for resurfacing.
The assessment should consider the substrate, existing coating, surface condition, geometry, and exposure. Loose finishes, swelling, moisture damage, or structural problems need attention before decorative work proceeds.
An architectural film changes the finish; it does not repair an unsound fixture.
Review Samples in the Actual Environment
A sample should be viewed alongside the finishes that will remain. Lighting, flooring, countertops, and adjacent walls all influence how a color or grain appears.
At Fifth Third Bank, the photographs demonstrate the relationship between dark woodgrain elements and lighter tops. For a new project, sample review helps establish that relationship before installation.
Plan Grain Direction and Transitions
Linear patterns make alignment decisions visible. Grain direction, seams, corners, and connections between panels should be considered together.
This planning is especially important when the same finish extends across several fixture types. Consistency comes from a coordinated approach, rather than treating each surface as an isolated task.
Manufacturing and Production: Translating Design into an Installation Plan
Corio Design’s broader approach connects design, manufacturing, and professional installation. In an architectural film project, it is important to distinguish the manufacturer’s product from the project-specific production work.
3M manufactures DI-NOC architectural films. Preparing that material for a particular interior involves translating measurements and finish selections into an application plan.
Production planning can include material quantities, cutting layouts, grain orientation, allowances for edges, and identification of the pieces required for each fixture. Where a broader project includes newly fabricated components or custom graphics, those elements require their own production scope.
The Fifth Third Bank presentation includes photographs marked with field measurements. They provide a direct view of the practical preparation behind the finished surfaces.
Accurate planning helps connect the design intent with the physical conditions installers encounter.
Professional Installation: Where the Details Become Visible
The project photographs document hands-on application work, including the use of a heat gun and application tool, along with work around the access gate.
Those images show why professional installation is a central part of the result. The material must be applied around the actual geometry of the fixture, including edges, corners, hardware, and adjoining components.
Manufacturer guidance also emphasizes evaluation of application surfaces, appropriate preparation, and allowing relevant coatings to cure before installation. The exact procedures depend on the product and substrate. See the 3M DI-NOC installation guide.
For a facility team, the installation plan should also address access to the work area, protection of nearby equipment, sequencing, and the final inspection.
A finished surface needs to look right and remain compatible with how the fixture is used.
Benefits: A Coordinated Appearance with a Focused Scope
The clearest documented benefit at Fifth Third Bank is visual consistency. Several fixtures now share a common finish direction across customer-facing and staff areas.
That result illustrates three practical reasons to consider commercial surface refinishing:
Retaining useful assets: suitable fixtures can remain part of the space while their appearance changes.
Connecting different elements: a coordinated finish can bring counters, cabinets, tables, and panels into one design.
Targeting the renovation: the scope can focus on surfaces that need renewal while accounting for surrounding conditions.
Architectural finishes also contribute to branded environments. Material choices, contrast, and consistency help shape a space’s character alongside signage, lighting, and furniture.
For organizations planning a wider refresh, these decisions can be coordinated with interior branding and environmental graphics.
Cost Savings: Compare the Complete Scope
Surface refinishing can offer a cost advantage when existing fixtures are suitable for reuse. The comparison should include the complete work required under each option.
Replacement may involve removal, disposal, new fabrication, delivery, and installation. Refinishing requires assessment, preparation, material, detailed application, and any necessary repairs.
The relative cost depends on conditions. A simple, sound panel presents a different scope from damaged cabinetry with complex edges and extensive preparation needs.
No project-specific savings figure is documented for the Fifth Third Bank renewal. The useful lesson is to compare realistic proposals rather than assume a fixed percentage reduction.
A well-defined estimate should explain what is being retained, what is being repaired, and what is included in the finish application.
Fast Renovation and Minimal Business Disruption
Architectural films can support a more focused renovation schedule by reducing the work associated with replacing suitable fixtures. 3M identifies resurfacing as an option for limiting renovation downtime, dust, and noise. Read 3M’s facility refurbishment guidance.
The actual schedule still depends on preparation, access, surface area, and installation complexity.
For occupied commercial spaces, planning should address which areas can be released for work, whether phases are possible, and how staff and customers will move around the project.
“Overnight renovation” or “next-day renovation” should describe a confirmed scope and schedule. The Fifth Third Bank documentation does not establish the installation duration or whether the branch remained open.
Minimal business disruption is a planning objective that should be discussed early.
Sustainability: Begin with What Can Be Retained
Retaining suitable fixtures can reduce the amount of material removed and discarded during a renovation.
That is the most direct sustainability consideration in a surface-first approach: assessing whether existing assets can continue to serve the space with a renewed finish.
A responsible evaluation also considers preparation materials, film offcuts, product selection, maintenance, and eventual replacement. Surface refinishing is not a zero-waste process, and environmental claims should reflect the specific project.
At Fifth Third Bank, the photographs show recognizable fixtures carried through the transformation. They support a story of reuse, without requiring unverified claims about carbon savings or waste quantities.
For property owners pursuing a sustainable renovation strategy, assessing existing assets is a useful starting point.
Applications Beyond Banking
The same evaluation process can inform other commercial interiors, subject to product suitability and site requirements.
Hotels may assess reception desks, doors, and cabinetry during a phased refresh. Retail owners may review service counters and display fixtures. Corporate offices may consider reception areas, meeting-room cabinetry, and shared workspaces.
Architects and interior designers can incorporate refinishing into a material strategy. Facility managers can assess repeatable applications across a property portfolio. Construction teams can identify where resurfacing belongs within a broader renovation scope.
For projects in Orlando and Central Florida, Corio Design’s architectural finishes services provide a starting point for discussing the space, its existing conditions, and the desired transformation.
Multi-location projects should also define consistent specifications and installation requirements before scheduling individual sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are architectural finishes?
Architectural finishes are the visible surface treatments that contribute to an interior’s appearance. In this project, the term refers specifically to 3M DI-NOC architectural films applied to interior fixtures.
Can architectural films cover existing cabinets?
Suitable cabinets may be candidates for architectural film installation. The substrate, condition, existing finish, edges, and intended use must be evaluated first. Loose or damaged surfaces require attention before application.
Can I renovate without replacement?
Some fixtures can be renewed through surface refinishing when their structure and function remain suitable. Replacement may still be necessary where there is damage, a layout problem, or a performance requirement that resurfacing cannot address.
Is DI-NOC installation suitable for every surface?
No. Product selection and substrate compatibility matter. Geometry, environmental conditions, preparation, and use should be reviewed against the relevant manufacturer documentation.
How much does commercial surface refinishing cost?
Cost depends on surface area, preparation, repairs, material selection, complexity, and site access. Photographs and measurements support an initial discussion, while a site assessment helps define the installation scope.
How should the finished surfaces be maintained?
Follow the care guidance for the installed product and its application. Facility teams should confirm suitable cleaning products and methods rather than assume every architectural finish has identical maintenance requirements. Consult 3M’s architectural design resource library.
Transform Your Commercial Space with Corio Design
The Fifth Third Bank renewal shows how much a coordinated finish can change an interior. Teller fronts, a writing table, cabinetry, a work surface, and an access gate now share a common visual direction.
The project also shows why a successful transformation extends beyond applying material. Assessment, design decisions, production planning, and installation details all contribute to the finished environment.
Corio Design transforms commercial spaces by bringing those considerations together. If you are planning a bank refresh, an office update, or another commercial renovation, start by identifying what works in your existing space—and what needs to change.
Share your location, photographs, approximate dimensions, and preferred schedule. Corio Design can help you evaluate the possibilities for your surfaces.
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