Designing the Modern Office in Solon

JAN | FEB | MAR 2018

AMERICAN BUILDERS QUARTERLY

Nestlé USA recently completed a $21 million renovation of its three-story Harper Building in Solon, Ohio. It’s a move that will lead to increases in workplace collaboration and global connective capacity.

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The openfloor planat Nestlé USA’s Harper Building includes collaborative spaces (top) Nestlé USA Facilities & Corporate Kira Kabo Security Head of “The previous layoutwas amaze for managing these businesses. these managing for important more become have which of both colleagues, overseas with communications for improved and allows collaboration group for small- settings comfortable creates design Building serves as an important pilot project. pilot important an as serves Building Harper Warsaw—the and Copenhagen, Milan, in for offices Nestlé customized lines—already guide workplace smarter global company’s the implementto America insite North first the As replaced. were also roof, and windows, HVAC, the including systems, Major building infrastructure. IT building’s the of pacity ca connective the enhancing while spaces meeting various and workstations, space open- plan, floor collaborative illuminated, naturally a feature to redesigned was rior inte the Instead, 1973. in Nestlé by quired whereStouffer’s operated beforeacbeing structure, 103,000-square-foot,three-story the of footprint the change not did but building, office 1969 the for work redesign the led Group, DLR of part Leskosky, Reed of thebuildingbetter representsof offices andabitdifficultof to navigate. Itwasveryniceforthe work togethertoday.” how peopleinourbusiness have changeddramatically since the late 1960s. The renovation time itwasbuilt, butworkstyles Cleveland architectural firm Westlake Westlake firm architectural Cleveland - - - - quiet room, jump on a call in a huddle room, room, huddle a in call a on jump room, quiet a in project solo a on dive deep a take can Employees work. employees where and how in flexibility for allow and workstations the lessly,” says. Cooper effort almost now occurs alignment and tion collabora of level heightened a and teams, the by well-received been has concept open and space new “The Building. Harper the at people in the Technical & Production group 250 about of team a with works USA, Nestlé support. adjustable lumbar with chair Aeron Miller Herman comfortable sleek, a touchscreen laptop with dual monitors and dardprocedure, everyone also receive will a stan As desk. the behind and under storage and wall bluetackable a with use, standing or seated for workstation Miller Herman wide 60-inch- a have will employee every process, to extensivean procurementtures. Thanks employees will enjoy some new office fea office new some enjoy will employees A variety of multipurpose rooms surround surround rooms multipurpose of variety A for officer technical chief Cooper, Bill that things, other among means, That - - - -

Kevin Reeves tk Kevin Reeves tk floor in this room (bottom). focus. Comfortable pillows dot the hardwood space for quiet moments anduninterrupted meditation/yoga room offers employees a the Nestlé “Nest” pattern (top). A prayer/ glass and feature anivory filmsimulating lobby conference rooms are walled with break before entering the building. Three es to collaborate; a rejuvenation room, with with room, rejuvenation a collaborate; to es and plac and snacks coffee Nestlé with HUBs, prayer, and yoga common called spaces room; meditation, a to points Kabo recharge. and unwind can employees where workspaces nontraditional of variety a are there ness, well and health on emphasis an whole—is a as company the guidelines—and workplace look. hip forasmart, the make elements all, in All walls. exterior the approaches it more as pronounced bluegrows that pattern a with Carpet, Chicago’s Milliken by created graphic-print pointillistic a is Kabo, to ing accord features, striking most project’s the of One logos. company’s the in found blues the of range reflect that accents and colorful glass; or frosted stone,clear and steel, wood, stainless in finishes Steelcase; and Miller man Her by furniture legacy: Stouffer’s and tury mid-cen the to nod a with contemporary, and tools. presentation digital with rooms ofany in conference or the a attend meeting

A new entrance foyer provides a wind Because a major thrust of the global global the of thrust major a Because clean is décor interior the whole, the On PATTERNS

13 - - - - - a ping-pong table, on the second floor; and construction and make room for the new a small library, which allows employees to functions coming to campus.” donate and borrow books, as examples that For Kabo, the project’s completion marks set the Harper Building apart from most pro- an important milestone. It comes at a time fessional offices in the United States. Many when Nestlé USA is moving its corporate of these spaces, she explains, are the result headquarters from Glendale, California, to of a periodic survey administered by Nestlé’s Arlington, Virginia, in part to be closer to key human resources department, which helped regulatory groups and non-government orga- identify employee preferences. nizations pertinent to the food and beverage Emilee Landers, associate specialist for the industry in Washington, DC. This will also Technical Applications group, has been with better reflect its sales and distribution trends, Nestlé for about three years. “The huddle as 80 percent of the company’s products are rooms are ideal for project-specific meetings sold east of the Mississippi, and 75 percent of and work sessions, and the HUBs are great its factories are located in the eastern United for one-on-ones with my manager or check- States. All eyes will be on Solon, Ohio, to see ins with other team members,” Landers says. how the new Global Workplace Standard can “Overall, there is more collaboration and effi- accommodate the shifting workplace needs ciency with my team in this workspace. Even of a growing business. as I’m working at my desk, people can stop by to have a conversation if needed.” Of course, renovating a building that’s nearly 50 years old presented challenges. Notable among them was maintaining unin- terrupted power service to the nearby Cleve- land Clinic Solon Family Health Center and the Nestlé USA corporate office across the street. Both operate, along with the Harper Building, on a single power loop. Demolish- ing the freezers of a former test kitchen and correcting the pitch of the irregular ceiling line in the building also emerged high on the priority list for Infinity Construction, which was tasked with completing the job on an aggressive time line. According to Jim Fantozzi, vice president of construction services for Infinity, coordi- nation was key to a successful project. As the general constructor, Infinity brought together all teams—ranging from architecture and design to the maintenance and building staff—to ensure a work-friendly environment for em- Proud to Partner with Nestlé ployees during construction. “We did a complete demolition of the space and rebuilt it from the ground up while the building was occupied on the other floors,” Fantozzi says. “Weekly planning Cleveland 216-663-3777 meetings were helpful in identifying where we were working for noise control and to Toledo 419-865-7100 coordinate entrances to the building. Exit infinityconstruction.com routes also had to be modified throughout the project.” “It was a flurry of activity,” Kabo adds. “The construction team brought people in to work three shifts, six days a week, moving as Experience Excellence Commitment quickly and quietly as possible to complete