CWT
CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) is a travel management company coordinating business travel, meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions, and event management for leading global organizations to “make the world work for you”, their tagline. Having previously worked with CWT in London, Singapore, and Paris the client came to Unispace once again to redesign their global headquarters in Minnesota, but here it would be a much more challenging undertaking. Their existing offices had hardly been changed since 1989 and the 10 floors they occupied had private offices around the perimeter and high paneled workstations throughout. It was not efficient by today’s standards and did not support the way their business works anymore. The client knew they needed to “get with the times” and even had an 80’s themed “demo party” prior to construction starting but, before we could get there, we had a lot of work to do. We started with an extensive strategy effort to determine how much space they needed to maintain and the functions it would serve before design could begin. Our workplace strategy team, in partnership with the design team and a delivery preconstruction specialist, evaluated the exiting building and the current use of the environment. We performed space data analysis, including on site observation, badge swipe readings, meeting space scheduling, and occupancy data to evaluate how people were using the current environment. Our team then engaged in an extensive interview process to get to know the 15 departments within the organization, and its culture. Shaped by our strategy findings and interview outcomes, CWT selected a workplace model that would consolidate its space to 4 floors, reducing its overall square footage drastically while offering many more meeting spaces and amenities. For this to work, we would standardize a kit of parts for the new workstations and create a largely open office environment.
Once strategy development was complete, we engaged with CWT’s internal steering committee to develop and validate a design solution. The program developed informed the size, orientation, and adjacencies that would support their many businesses. As we zeroed in on the final layout, we began to explore the aesthetic goal for their headquarters. The committee made it clear that they wanted this office to “connect” with other offices around the world yet be identifiable for its Midwestern staff members. Little nods, like the cut log side tables and woven fabrics used in the collaboration and lounge spaces refer to the North Woods, while the movable stools that stack in recesses, like Tetris, are a direct specification from their Paris studio. The wood slat ceiling feature above the reception desk, and repeated throughout, is an evolution of a wood accent used in their Bogota space, but here we changed the shape and scale, added a curve at the transition from wall to ceiling, to emulate the smooth glide of a plane as travel is their business. What resulted is an eclectic environment where, “My CWT,” their mantra, is reflected everywhere. Sometimes it is subtle, as in the finish pallet we developed to coordinate with their newest branding guidelines but, to offer a level of sophistication, we created depth with use of additional hues, textures, and patterns. In other area we incorporated more literal branding graphics and digital media. State of the art technology is available everywhere.
The biggest challenge for the client on this project was obtaining buy in from all the department heads and exciting the staff about the changes to come. Our client’s leadership was shifting forward 30 years, literally, in their workplace design and they needed to sell it. Before the phased renovation began, we developed a 2 minutes video presentation/walkthrough that showed all of CWT what their future looked like. Once released, we were told that there was a new buzz of anticipation and excitement throughout the organization and the renovation proved a great success for the future of “My CWT!”
- Categories
- Office
- Location
- Minnetonka, MN
- Project Size
- 83,000 SF