Confidential Financial Services Firm

Consolidation without compromise—that was the theme of a brand-new buildout for this confidential financial services firm.

The client was gathering their employee teams from multiple locations and bringing them together in a new space prominently located in downtown Milwaukee across from the historic City Hall. The new, state-of-the-art, Class A office building features full amenities and would provide an updated and elevated work environment for the client’s workforce. 

There was only one catch—the new location totaled roughly one-third of the square footage of the old locations combined. The staffing wasn’t decreasing by two-thirds. So how do you comfortably fit roughly the same number of people into just one-third the space? 

Design partner, Stantec, and Office Revolution got creative and came up with a design and furniture solution that used the space efficiently without sacrificing comfort or aesthetics. “Part of the furniture strategy was to create an incredible work environment while using less square footage per employee,” said Daryl Johnson, manager of strategic accounts, Office Revolution. “We just became more efficient with space while also incorporating their new corporate standards,” she continued.

How? Teknion District® systems furniture and hiSpace height-adjustable desking throughout the open floorplan make efficient use of smaller footprints by overlapping surfaces, elevating casegoods and utilizing compact dimensions. The Teknion upStage table connects coworkers in the café emulating the communal camaraderie you’d find in residential dining, with familiar, though refined, details such as an elegant wood surface and metal Y-legs. In open collaboration areas, Teknion Nami stools situate neatly behind Global River™ curvilinear high back configurations to create separate pockets of multi-functional seating in same space. Modular benching in a conference room is also a creative solution to maximize space with varying occupancy.

But space was not the only challenge in this project. Every buildout has its share of unforeseen challenges, but this one was a first for the team. During furniture install, the building experienced a water main break that flooded the main level with 6 feet of water and caused the electrical system to go down, which in turn eliminated running water, heat, and rendered the elevators useless. For a project installing on floors 11-17, lack of an elevator presented a serious inconvenience. “I was so impressed with our install team,” said Johnson. “They carried their tools up 11-17 flights of stairs and continued to assemble, move and install furniture—all without heat, electricity and running water for weeks,” continued Johnson.

Fitting a workforce into roughly one-third the space without compromising comfort or style; designing around brand-new corporate standards; and a water main break that presented nearly insurmountable obstacles to the installation…to say this project had its challenges is an understatement. But the Office Revolution team met each of the challenges head-on and helped deliver an amazing space that exceeded the client’s expectations.