Context / Goal

Our client established its new global headquarters in Chicago's Fulton Market district to support the company's rapid growth and expand its research, product development, and global operations focused on reducing food waste. The 54,000-square-foot facility was intended to serve as a combined workplace and advanced laboratory that could accommodate scientists, engineers, and administrative staff under one roof. The headquarters needed to provide the infrastructure necessary to accelerate innovation, strengthen collaboration, and support the client's expanding international customer base.

Challenge

The project required transforming newly constructed office space into laboratory space, one of Chicago's first large-scale office-to-laboratory conversions. This entailed extensive upgrades to support sophisticated wet-lab operations. Specialized ventilation, fume exhaust, laboratory gases, boilers, emergency power systems, and chemical storage had to be integrated into an office building without compromising the existing structure, while negotiating a complicated process of procuring laboratory equipment. At the same time, a safe and highly technical research environment was necessary to reflect 's collaborative culture and commitment to environmental stewardship.

Solution / Result

Our client received a purpose-built headquarters that is one of the largest private chemical laboratories in Chicago. Spaces include wet, dry, pilot, engineering, sensory, and innovation laboratories, alongside flexible office and collaboration spaces that seamlessly integrate research and business functions. The completed headquarters seves as an innovation hub that supports continued growth, advances the company’s mission to reduce global food waste, and strengthens Chicago's position as a growing life sciences and agriculture technology center.