The Chicago office of Ryan Companies US, Inc. has completed a comprehensive, design-through-construction build-out for Rasmussen, Inc. at its new 60,000-square-foot headquarters in Regency Towers in Oak Brook, Ill.
Early in 2010, Rasmussen announced plans to relocate the executive, management and administrative operations for its nationwide education services from Burr Ridge to Oak Brook. The company leased four full floors in the two-building complex across the street from Oakbrook Center, along I-88.
Rasmussen’s space at Regency Towers will be used for offices only. Rasmussen will operate its two divisions from the expanded facility: Rasmussen College, which is a four year, regionally accredited provider of career-focused education online and across 21 campuses, and Deltak, which collaborates with many prominent, leading educational institutions and enables them to offer high demand programs online.
Ryan Companies was selected to design and construct Rasmussen’s new office space, based in part on a longstanding relationship. Design of the space began in early spring. Construction commenced about August 1 and was completed in the fourth quarter.
According to Nick Kaminski, a senior project manager with Ryan Companies, the project was fast-tracked because of Rasmussen’s expiring Burr Ridge lease. Ultimately, this necessitated Ryan to be working simultaneously on all four floors of the space.
Kaminski conveyed the design and construction of the project posed several challenges. The deck-to-deck heights are only 12 feet, in contrast to the 13-1/2 to 14 feet more common today. That, according to Kaminski, made it difficult to renovate the existing overhead MEP systems and maintain 8-1/2-foot ceilings. Additionally, the building has more columns than are now typically found, which eliminates some of the large open area on each floor.
In spite of these challenges, Ryan designed and constructed an impressive space following a commitment to sustainability and incorporating as much open space as possible. Should Rasmussen elect to do so, its space likely could receive the base level LEED certification.
