New Office Interiors

Applying Innovative Design to Drive Growth 
Located on the 21st floor of a high-rise office building in the heart of downtown Chicago, this new workplace puts flexibility and adaptability front-and-center — empowering the company and employees to flex as personal needs and business models evolve. The design consolidates staff previously dispersed across three different floors within a single 24,000-sf footprint — a strategic decision made to enhance collaboration, reduce real estate costs and free up capital to support reinvestment.

The solution is designed around an agile, unassigned seating model that offers employees a variety of work settings, adaptable conference and teaming spaces, and hospitality-like amenities. Leaders report that the outcome has helped to break down silos and yielded measurable improvements in collaboration, corporate culture, employee engagement and operational efficiency. 

Creating an Equitable Workplace Experience for All
A key design goal was to dismantle traditional hierarchies of the past and deliver a workplace where every employee feels valued and empowered. A principle of “views for all” guided the team’s planning and design approach. The floor plan was configured to provide all employees — regardless of title or tenure — with access to natural light, expansive views, premium amenities and increased autonomy over where and how they work.

Designed to Support Diverse Work Styles and Employee Needs 
Providing employees with the autonomy and flexibility to choose from a variety of work settings is essential to productivity, efficiency and well-being. The office was organized into distinct neighborhoods created to provide employees with a sense of identity and place; circulation paths were aligned with skyline views for intuitive wayfinding.  

Staff can select from open spaces equipped with unassigned desks, enclosed offices, phone rooms, adaptable conference spaces with moveable furniture, collaboration zones, and hospitality and wellness-focused amenities including serenity rooms, lockers and a café outfitted with cold brew and seltzer taps.  

Warm wood finishes, soft lighting and residential-style furnishings were placed throughout the office to evoke feelings of comfort and familiarity while also reinforcing psychological safety and well-being.  

Creating a Sophisticated and Timeless Design
The interior design solution creates a sophisticated and timeless look representative of the client’s legacy and vision. The color palette and materials blend a variety of refined-yet-durable, sustainably sourced products carefully curated to elevate design and reduce lifecycle costs.

• An onyx stone feature wall brings a beautiful mix of blue and copper tones to the space
• Wood-clad ceilings, columns and finishes were inspired by patterns, textures and forms commonly found in nature
• Custom-framed openings with soft arches create strong design impact with minimal material use
• Soft lighting and residential-style furnishings evoke comfort and familiarity

Each design element reinforces psychological safety and employee well-being.

Celebrating a Shared Sense of Purpose
Locating all employees on a single floor was a strategic design decision made to remove long-standing mindsets and barriers that challenged cooperation, relationship building, trust and productivity. The new, consolidated space strengthens collaboration, re-energizes confidence in the firm and its leaders, and enables employees to understand how their work supports the company’s overall mission, vision and goals. This new sense of belonging and shared purpose reinforces the value that each employee brings to the company — all within a flexible, silo-free workplace that redefines inclusivity, sustainability and enterprise engagement.