Project: Corporate Office Renovation
Client: The Marmon Group
Location: Chicago, IL
Case Study: The Marmon Group
Challenge: It began as a project aimed at enhancing the interior space of The Marmon Group’s corporate headquarters, and evolved into a search for a larger space that could be designed to suit the organization’s specific needs. In working closely with the company and its people, this solution became clear.
The Marmon Group is an International Association of more than 125 business units that operate independently. The company’s mission is to continue to grow by emphasizing autonomous management, simplification of operations, innovative solutions to customer needs, and investment in their people, plants, and products. We were asked to make a few modifications to the Marmon Group’s existing headquarters in Chicago. Once planning was finalized, however, our team and their leaders agreed that the organization’s space did not match its mission. Quite simply, staff members at Marmon were being housed in a space that was not adequate for their job description.
Solution: Marmon made the decision to relocate and settled on the 181 Madison building in Chicago. The company’s plan was to occupy 36,000 square feet. In interviewing key staff as part of our effort to ensure that this space would accommodate staff and support Marmon’s mission, we identified the need for even more space. Marmon’s leaders made the decision to increase its space in this building to two full floors of approximately 44,000 square feet. With this approach, we were able to develop a plan in which all of Marmon’s staff were housed together on one floor—ensuring an effective work environment—while the additional floor could be used as support space.
In supporting the company’s focus on the care of its people, a workout facility with showers and a lunch room/lounge was integrated into the plan. The space also includes an Exhibit Room that doubles as a casual meeting space, a state-of-the-art Board Room, and many comfortable conference rooms that are used for staff meetings. For convenience and flow, a staircase was added that connects both floors. These floors come together to provide the company with a modern, functional space well suited to Marmon’s staff and its mission. Within a tight budget and a very tight schedule, we led a collaborative process that remained focused on meeting the company’s objectives.
