In April, HOK was selected to design the three-story, 80,000-sf corporate headquarters for Consumers Credit Union in Kalamazoo, Mich.
In describing the design for this Class A building, HOK’s Principal-in-charge, Dan Sullivan, AIA, used words like “flexibility,” “interactivity,” “environmental stewardship,” and “employee engagement.” The design also accommodates potential future expansion of up to 300,000 sf.
Those buzzwords are likely to resonate with property owners whose office spaces are meant to appeal to Millennials, those 18- to 34-year-olds who account for more than half of America’s workforce.
TOP OFFICE SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
1. Gensler $512,720,000
2. HOK $140,688,000
3. Perkins+Will $113,700,000
4. Stantec $76,427,618
5. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill $70,962,348
TOP OFFICE SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS
1. AECOM $947,497,000
2. Jacobs $512,160,000
3. Burns & McDonnell $69,727,005
4. Thornton Tomasetti $65,486,893
5. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff $54,344,358
TOP OFFICE SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS
1. Turner Construction $2,332,439,971
2. Structure Tone $1,979,004,000
3. Gilbane Building Co. $1,522,232,308
4. Skanska USA $1,492,297,413
5. Balfour Beatty US $1,205,407,428
OFFICE GIANTS SPONSORED BY:
In a recent post on Area Development Online’s website (http://bit.ly/1FegDPY), Josh Kuriloff, Executive Vice Chairman at mega-developer Cushman & Wakefield, observed that Millennials aren’t keen on conventional private offices. They prefer layouts that are amenable to “activity-based working.”
“Design today is intended to trigger innovation, fresh ideas, and a sense of community,” said Kuriloff. “Good design is a catalyst that fosters conversation—and unanticipated epiphanies. Even cubicles, once intended to preserve privacy, now promote collaboration with lowered partitions and improved ergonomics.”
Clients are asking for designs that will help them recruit and retain younger talent. The workplace needs to act as a communications tool that “aids in celebrating individual or team contributions, broadcasting organization goals or objectives, and providing spaces for effective collaboration,” says Isilay Civan, PhD, LEED AP, a Research and Innovation Specialist at HOK.
A recent Gensler project, the 600,000-sf Motorola Mobility headquarters, in Chicago, includes open, collaborative offices, an outdoor terrace, lab benching, production-line equipment, food service, conference rooms, and a customer service center.
“When competing against many otherwise similar properties, a strong branding strategy can deliver a unique and memorable hook or visual style that truly creates differentiation,” says Beth Novitsky, Gensler’s Global Brands Design Practice Leader. “We are creating spaces that communicate a lifestyle and an experience.”
In its Design Forecast 2015, Gensler said office designs that give clients an edge with Millennials place a premium on sustainability, wellness, loftlike spaces, and locations that are active, transit-friendly, and walkable. Workspaces must promote wellness, and must integrate smart technology to increase occupant performance.
OFFICE CONSTRUCTION SPENDING coming BACK
Market watchers are in general agreement that office construction is finally getting back on track. Even though office starts were off by 6%, to 20.8 million sf through Q1/2015, there were 8.7 million sf of office completions, a 102% increase over the same period in 2014, according to JLL’s First Quarter 2015 U.S. Office Outlook. Office construction spending in that quarter rose 13.5% to $48.9 billion.
CoStar estimates that 108 million sf of office space was under construction in the first quarter, a 17% gain over the same period a year earlier. Construction levels in Q1/2015 were above historic norms in a third of the largest U.S. metros.
For the year, there will be 104 million sf of net absorptions and 56 million sf of office space delivered, says real estate services firm Marcus & Millichap. The bulk of new supply (81%) and half the demand (50%) will be confined to 15 metros.
In its National Office Report 2015, Marcus & Millichap ranks San Francisco tops on its National Office Property Index, followed by San Jose, Seattle–Tacoma, New York, and Orange County, Calif. The index is based on such factors as employment growth, vacancy, and rents.
The research firm’s Developer Confidence Index, which highlights markets with the highest increase in speculative office space as a percentage of overall inventory, was led by Dallas–Fort Worth, followed by Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle–Tacoma, and San Jose.
Marcus & Millichap states that office-based businesses, which historically account for more than a third of the country’s job creation, are hiring aggressively—to the point where “office-using jobs will continue to recover well ahead of total nonfarm employment.”
Office market highlights from Marcus & Millichap
• Dallas–Fort Worth: Developers will deliver 6 million sf of office space this year, versus 3.7 million sf in 2014. Deliveries in Houston are expected to rise 42% to 11.1 million sf.
• Chicago: Nearly one-quarter of the 4.6 million sf of office space under construction is scheduled to come online this year.
• Denver: The 1144 Fifteenth development, a 640,000-sf speculative office building that broke ground last month, will be the largest office tower built in the Mile High City in nearly three decades.
• Los Angeles: As of Q1/2015, more than 1.5 million sf of the 2.4 million sf of office space that should be completed this year had no pre-leasing commitments.
• New York City: Completions are expected to drop 28%, to 2.8 million sf, this year.
• Phoenix: Deliveries will more than double to 2.5 million sf in 2015, from 1.1 million sf in 2014. Major projects include the $125 million, 410,000-sf expansion of Wells Fargo’s campus in Chandler, Ariz.
• San Jose: Pre-leasing is robust. Completions this year are expected to hit 3.5 million sf, versus 950,000 sf in 2014.
• Washington, D.C.: Developers continue to build, despite projections that 20% of the metro’s office space will sit empty this year.
Source: Marcus & Millichap, National Office Report 2015
RETURN TO THE GIANTS 300 LANDING PAGE
Related Stories
K-12 Schools | Apr 30, 2024
Fully electric Oregon elementary school aims for resilience with microgrid design
The River Grove Elementary School in Oregon was designed for net-zero carbon and resiliency to seismic events, storms, and wildfire. The roughly 82,000-sf school in a Portland suburb will feature a microgrid—a small-scale power grid that operates independently from the area’s electric grid.
AEC Tech | Apr 30, 2024
Lack of organizational readiness is biggest hurdle to artificial intelligence adoption
Managers of companies in the industrial sector, including construction, have bought the hype of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative technology, but their organizations are not ready to realize its promise, according to research from IFS, a global cloud enterprise software company. An IFS survey of 1,700 senior decision-makers found that 84% of executives anticipate massive organizational benefits from AI.
Codes and Standards | Apr 30, 2024
Updated document details methods of testing fenestration for exterior walls
The Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) updated a document serving a recommended practice for determining test methodology for laboratory and field testing of exterior wall systems. The document pertains to products covered by an AAMA standard such as curtain walls, storefronts, window walls, and sloped glazing. AAMA 501-24, Methods of Test for Exterior Walls was last updated in 2015.
MFPRO+ News | Apr 29, 2024
World’s largest 3D printer could create entire neighborhoods
The University of Maine recently unveiled the world’s largest 3D printer said to be able to create entire neighborhoods. The machine is four times larger than a preceding model that was first tested in 2019. The older model was used to create a 600 sf single-family home made of recyclable wood fiber and bio-resin materials.
K-12 Schools | Apr 29, 2024
Tomorrow's classrooms: Designing schools for the digital age
In a world where technology’s rapid pace has reshaped how we live, work, and communicate, it should be no surprise that it’s also changing the PreK-12 education landscape.
Adaptive Reuse | Apr 29, 2024
6 characteristics of a successful adaptive reuse conversion
In the continuous battle against housing shortages and the surplus of vacant buildings, developers are turning their attention to the viability of adaptive reuse for their properties.
AEC Innovators | Apr 26, 2024
National Institute of Building Sciences announces Building Innovation 2024 schedule
The National Institute of Building Sciences is hosting its annual Building Innovation conference, May 22-24 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. BI2024 brings together everyone who impacts the built environment: government agencies, contractors, the private sector, architects, scientists, and more.
Mass Timber | Apr 25, 2024
Bjarke Ingels Group designs a mass timber cube structure for the University of Kansas
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and executive architect BNIM have unveiled their design for a new mass timber cube structure called the Makers’ KUbe for the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design. A six-story, 50,000-sf building for learning and collaboration, the light-filled KUbe will house studio and teaching space, 3D-printing and robotic labs, and a ground-level cafe, all organized around a central core.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Apr 25, 2024
How pools can positively affect communities
Clark Nexsen senior architects Jennifer Heintz and Dorothea Schulz discuss how pools can create jobs, break down barriers, and create opportunities within communities.
Senior Living Design | Apr 24, 2024
Nation's largest Passive House senior living facility completed in Portland, Ore.
Construction of Parkview, a high-rise expansion of a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in Portland, Ore., completed recently. The senior living facility is touted as the largest Passive House structure on the West Coast, and the largest Passive House senior living building in the country.
