CBRE announced the opening of its newest “Workplace360″ office at 321 North Clark Street in the River North submarket of Downtown Chicago. Part of CBRE’s high profile global workplace strategy initiative, the new Chicago space is a 100 percent “free address” and paperless office. With no assigned seating, the office features a balance of private and collaborative workspaces designed to support the way employees work today and will work in the future through enhanced flexibility, mobility, technology and productivity.
At 61,000 sq. ft., the Downtown Chicago office is the largest of 21 CBRE offices globally to have transitioned to this new way of working. Chicago joins other major markets around the world in making this transition, including Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne.
“Following the successful implementation of Workplace360 offices both in the U.S., and around the world, we were very excited to make the transition here and to customize the design of our space in a way that celebrates the great city of Chicago,” stated Chris Connelly, Executive Managing Director for the Midwest Region. “With the help of our firm’s Workplace Strategy team, this new office will enhance the way we work and deliver services to our clients in Chicago.”
Based in part on research that shows that office workers spend approximately 50 percent of their time working with others and the other half spent working alone, CBRE’s “Workplace360″ initiative provides a flexible way of working and a system of places, technologies and protocols that allow for choice based on an employee’s changing needs and preferences throughout the day.
“The 18-month change management process leading up to the move proved to be very effective as a majority of employees knew what to expect on day one and were fully operational within an hour of arriving at the new office,” said Damla Gerhart, who managed the implementation of the Chicago project for CBRE’s Workplace Strategy team. “The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive.”
The Downtown Chicago office will initially house approximately 300 employees with room to accommodate up to 370 – a 25 percent increase in capacity that can be attributed to the new, flexible work environment. The office includes 14 different ways of working throughout the space including “offices for a day” and focus rooms for when privacy is required. In addition, MediaScape areas, huddle rooms and conference rooms provide employees with ample collaboration space.
Enhanced technology that supports this mobile way of working is a core element of the Workplace360 model. “Plug and play” work stations feature sit-stand desks and are equipped with dual monitors, “follow me” phones allow employees to receive phone calls to their direct line from any location in the office and “follow me” printing enables employees to wirelessly print to any printer.
In addition, the digitization of hundreds of hard copy files allows employees to access their files from anywhere, while promoting a greener environment. Prior to the move, the office digitized 85 percent of all paper files and reduced file storage by more than 70 percent.
CBRE’s Workplace Strategy team, aided by Gensler Architects and CBRE’s in-house Project Management team, oversaw the construction.
“The opening of our new office in Chicago represents a milestone for our global workplace strategy initiative,” said Laura O’Brien, CBRE’s Global Director of Client Care and Development and Head of Sales Management for the Americas. “As the largest Workplace360 office in the world, Chicago takes its place among offices in many of the world’s most prominent cities to transition to this new way of working. Less than two years since opening our first of these offices in Amsterdam and just a year after opening our Los Angeles global headquarters office, we are truly leading the global transformation of the way people work and will work on the future.”
