Spanning 783,800 sf across its 11 stories, Zurich’s new North American headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill., houses almost 3,000 employees and contractors in a “stacked bars” office complex. Designed by Goettsch Partners, with Clayco as the developer and design-builder, the LEED Platinum-certified building breaks free from the typical center-core suburban office form with a trio of rectangular boxes that are offset and stacked. The top bar is 500 feet long, spans 180 feet between the bottom two bars, and cantilevers out 60 feet to the east, directly on axis with downtown Chicago, 28 miles to the southeast.
The HQ’s unusual arrangement offers numerous benefits, including optimal views of the surrounding landscape, improved solar orientation for amenities, and programmatic flexibility for Zurich. It also creates multiple spaces and amenities to encourage collaboration and wellness among employees, including green roofs, outdoor terraces, and a system of walking trails.
The project’s interior designer and workplace strategist, CannonDesign, led an extensive workplace pilot program and employee survey project (1,300 responses were recorded) to optimize the design scheme. More than 150 employees spent three weeks testing four uniquely configured office neighborhoods, each with different styles of desks, chairs, enclaves, conference rooms, and informal meeting spaces. The final design, which incorporates adjustable sit/stand desks, a variety of formal and informal meeting spaces, and decentralized break areas, was selected based on performance and feedback, including increased interaction among teams, decreased waiting times, and more flexibility.
Also on the Building Team: JLL (client’s rep.), WSP/Halvorson and Partners (SE), V3 Companies (CE), Thornton Tomasetti (sustainability consultant), and Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects.
©James Steinkamp Photography
©James Steinkamp Photography
Related Stories
AEC Innovators | Apr 15, 2024
3 ways the most innovative companies work differently
Gensler’s pre-pandemic workplace research reinforced that great workplace design drives creativity and innovation. Using six performance indicators, we're able to view workers’ perceptions of the quality of innovation, creativity, and leadership in an employee’s organization.
Laboratories | Apr 15, 2024
HGA unveils plans to transform an abandoned rock quarry into a new research and innovation campus
In the coastal town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., an abandoned rock quarry will be transformed into a new research and innovation campus designed by HGA. The campus will reuse and upcycle the granite left onsite. The project for Cell Signaling Technology (CST), a life sciences technology company, will turn an environmentally depleted site into a net-zero laboratory campus, with building electrification and onsite renewables.
Mixed-Use | Apr 4, 2024
Sustainable mixed-use districts: Crafting urban communities
As a part of the revitalization of a Seattle neighborhood, Graphite Design Group designed a sustainable mixed-use community that exemplifies resource conversation, transportation synergies, and long-term flexibility.
Office Buildings | Apr 2, 2024
SOM designs pleated façade for Star River Headquarters for optimal daylighting and views
In Guangzhou, China, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has designed the recently completed Star River Headquarters to minimize embodied carbon, reduce energy consumption, and create a healthy work environment. The 48-story tower is located in the business district on Guangzhou’s Pazhou Island.
Adaptive Reuse | Mar 30, 2024
Hotel vs. office: Different challenges in commercial to residential conversions
In the midst of a national housing shortage, developers are examining the viability of commercial to residential conversions as a solution to both problems.
Sustainability | Mar 29, 2024
Demystifying carbon offsets vs direct reductions
Chris Forney, Principal, Brightworks Sustainability, and Rob Atkinson, Senior Project Manager, IA Interior Architects, share the misconceptions about carbon offsets and identify opportunities for realizing a carbon-neutral building portfolio.
Office Buildings | Mar 28, 2024
Workplace campus design philosophy: People are the new amenity
Nick Arambarri, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, Director of Commercial, LPA, underscores the value of providing rich, human-focused environments for the return-to-office workforce.
Office Buildings | Mar 27, 2024
A new Singapore office campus inaugurates the Jurong Innovation District, a business park located in a tropical rainforest
Surbana Jurong, an urban, infrastructure and managed services consulting firm, recently opened its new headquarters in Singapore. Surbana Jurong Campus inaugurates the Jurong Innovation District, a business park set in a tropical rainforest.
Adaptive Reuse | Mar 26, 2024
Adaptive Reuse Scorecard released to help developers assess project viability
Lamar Johnson Collaborative announced the debut of the firm’s Adaptive Reuse Scorecard, a proprietary methodology to quickly analyze the viability of converting buildings to other uses.
Sustainability | Mar 21, 2024
World’s first TRUE-certified building project completed in California
GENESIS Marina, an expansive laboratory and office campus in Brisbane, Calif., is the world’s first Total Resource Use and Efficiency (TRUE)-certified construction endeavor. The certification recognizes projects that achieve outstanding levels of resource efficiency through waste reduction, reuse, and recycling practices.
