The bank’s involvement with the local high schools and business communities were understandable outgrowths of a good business strategy, but NCB's commitment to the people it serves goes beyond just business.

For example, every year the bank along with the community around them sponsors an old-fashioned pig roast and fundraising telethon for Muscular Dystrophy. With the support of the local media, the bank has raised significant amounts of money for the charity that would make Jerry Lewis proud!


These initiatives and the rural roots of most of this southwest Ohio NCB subsidiary were instrumental in the design/build process of their new prototype branch, the first of which was unveiled in Wilmington, Ohio.

Recalling the rural silos of the Ohio area, the exterior of the building is anchored by a metal cylinder that dominates the profile of the branch and is flanked by traditional masonry forms, all of which are juxtaposed and abstracted by the transparency of the glass and steel curtain wall. The “Silo” element contains a unique circular conference room with one wall designed to disappear on tracks through the ceiling and allow the main bank space to join with this unique conference room. This arrangement of interconnecting spaces allows the bank to use the conference room as a “stage” for their annual fundraising and community events.

NCB continues to maintain the traditional elements of offices, teller lines, and support rooms; but also offers a hoteling office arrangement, as well as a concierge desk that also functions as a business desk for some banking operations. The overall feeling of the bank is light and airy, yet it maintains a secure image to the community and to the bank’s customers.

The National Cooperative Bank (NCB) is not your average “bank”. Not only in the type of customers it attracts, nor in the lending efforts to Cooperatives that lies at the cornerstone of this unique financial institution, but in the community at large does NCB reach out to maintain its stalwart position of helping others.

If you visit the NCB web site (www.ncb.coop), the story of their place in a unique banking market begins to reveal itself in the customers it serves, the locations it establishes, and most importantly the people it helps.

Started by an Act of Congress in 1978 “to address the financial needs of an underserved market niche – people who join together to meet personal, social or business needs, especially in low to moderate income communities”, NCB has helped diverse groups - from Native Americans in Alaska, to Midwest farmers, to housing cooperatives in large East Coast Cities.

With offices in Washington, DC; New York City, NY; and Anchorage, AK; their Hillsboro, OH location may seem curious, but to understand this is to understand the community-focus of NCB.

In Ohio, NCB, FSB is the federally chartered thrift subsidiary of NCB. The thrift operates a community banking network in Southwestern Ohio and provides mortgage banking services, deposit products, and cash management to NCB’s national customer base. Operating for years out of their Hillsboro location, NCB has begun an expansion of their banking network in southwest Ohio.

With this expansion in mind, NCB sought K4's expertise to develop a prototype design for branch banks where the design elements could be retrofitted to some of their in-store branches and their Ohio Main Office in Hillsboro.

K4’s exploration of the needs and wants of this unique financial institution revealed the spirit that NCB maintains with each community it embraces.

K4 is proud to be associated with NCB and those that use the places we design and build as a tool to improve the world through the services they provide.

NCB’s growth stems from its commitment to the values inherent in the roots of the community it serves. K4’s understanding of NCB's commitment and the relationship between the keys aspects of “Place” (People, Presence, Promotion, and Productivity) and the surrounding community continues to help NCB achieve its growth objectives, which serendipitously fuels K4 ’s growth.

K4 is a Total Solutions company that provides tremendous resources to commerce-driven projects challenged with rolling out multiple new locations in a short time frame. Our ability to assist in the management of roll-out programs provides a level of reporting and accountability that streamlines the process to your benefit. Our focus is Speed-to-Market. Delivering a strong quality project on time and on budget is the core of what we do.

K4 provides services through our Architecture, Interior Design, Site IQ (Investigations/ Qualifications) and Construction Divisions. We provide all or some of these services depending upon your needs. Our strategy to deliver Branded Places is focused on providing an integrated service approach, combining the problem-solving creativity of a large Architectural and Design firm with the implementation ability of a strong Construction company. This effective service approach streamlines the time element to deliver a project and improves the communication and team effort to do multiple projects successfully.

Click here to read more about K4 and the services we provide.