We are connected. We are well-versed. We are influencers.
Our team is in-tune with the industry’s latest happenings. Read on for our insights and opinions on the latest trends in commercial real estate.
Last night our WHA team attended IIDA Illinois' STITCH 2020 event where we won Best Stage Presence!
WHA Principal's, Stephen Wright and Roger Heerema, let us know about the importance of investing in the redesign of suburban corporate office buildings in 2020.
WHA is excited to announce we are finalists for the 2020 GCFD Awards!
Wright Heerema Architects worked together with Gould & Ratner to implement a workplace strategy that encompassed their design goals as well as introduced an innovative take on law office design.
As the suburban office market continues to boom, firms are finding a unique hub in the O’Hare submarket surprisingly attractive to the millennial generation. Building owners hoping to keep up are incorporating aesthetic and useful amenities to entice companies to contribute to Rosemont’s revival.
The Salvation Army Angel Tree program is an opportunity to spread joy and cheer to the less fortunate during the holidays.
WHA worked with J.C Anderson to create a collaborative space at President's Plaza which tenant's and guests can now enjoy. View the sneak peek video from J.C Anderson to see the space!
Our team members at WHA attended AIA DESIGNIGHT at the AON Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier, 840 EAST GRAND AVENUE, CHICAGO on Friday, October 25.
“We’re excited for Luke to join our team and help expand our footprint throughout the Chicago area,” said Steve Wright, Principal, Wright Heerema Architects. “Luke’s experience with growing businesses and his keen understanding of the industry will make a meaningful impact on our firm and the clients we serve.”
“You need to understand what’s around you because a building can’t do everything,” Delano said. “If your building provides things that are lacking in neighborhood, it will be successful.”
“Most tenants used to have a huge server facility in their space, but now they’re mostly in the cloud so they need connectivity,” Wright said. “You rarely see anyone putting in huge data centers in these buildings. There’s been a shift in technology, more accessing than housing.”
We are excited to be highlighted in Work Design Magazine's most recent publication featuring the technology we use on each of our projects at WHA.
Technology enhances our buildings and workspaces in countless qualitative ways: think improved productivity, engagement and collaboration. But what about when architects and designers leverage technology to expand the rentable square feet within an existing office building – while uncovering new angles and spaces that activate classic historic features?
Using the right technology can save you time and money in the long run when renovating a corporate interior space. Providing highly accurate dimensions of the space using Point Cloud will deliver the most detailed and accurate depiction of the reality of the space.
As Millennials earn their partnership stripes, many are seeking to be rewarded in other ways, rather than the proverbial corner office. As a result, office size is more equally distributed among the ranks, with natural light and amenities for all.
Our team won "Most Innovative Use of Donations" during (re)fortify CELEBRATE night
We help clients realize their workplace potential. As workplace strategists, our job starts with understanding your culture and how your teams work. With a solid understanding of your workplace needs, we then translate your vision into re-energized workspaces designed to support your goals. Our team of workplace strategists, architects and designers will recommend strategies geared for your unique needs – whether you’re looking to increase employee productivity and space utilization, support wellness, or cultivate a workplace experience that brings your company’s culture to life.
Roger Heerema was recently a speaker at the Bisnow The Future of Chicago Suburbs Event at Schaumburg Towers.
Workplace-focused designers can take some tips from an industry for which those are fundamental: hospitality.
Every time a suburban corporation decides to pull up stakes and head downtown, the move generates headlines.
Does your workplace reflect your mission? For nonprofit and association leaders who pour all their energy and budget into their mission, this question can seem tangential. But what if your workplace was designed in a way that both reduces costs and inspires both employees and visitors?
Scott Delano was recently on the IREJ Commercial Real Estate Forecast - Corporate office break out panel
WHA staff have stepped up and fulfilled over a hundred Angel Tree tags, bringing joy and hope for families and children this holiday.
Companies are paying more attention to common areas visited by clients and employees alike.
A new wave of young talent is bringing into question everything we know about law office design. With millennials as the largest generation in the workforce since 2017, generational shifts have begun affecting office design choices in earnest—and law firms are not exempt.
WHA invites you to see where their design process takes place during Open House Chicago 2018. The firm’s open office plan includes a plenty of collaboration space and a sizeable materials library for architects and designers to touch base with team members, all overlooking the Federal Plaza and Calder’s iconic Flamingo sculpture through classic Chicago-style windows.
While typically Wright Heerema Architect’s repositioning projects are enjoyed by the building’s users only, 200WJ will be open to the public as a new site for Open House Chicago 2018.
Wright Heerema Architects is on Instagram! WHA aims to proudly showcase our work through a colorful, curated feed.
Steve Wright, co-founder of Wright Heerema Architects, will speak at the 3rd annual State of the Suburban Office Market Conference. Steve will be on a panel discussing the reassessment of the suburban workplace.
Wright Heerema held their quarterly outing for their employees at the Park Grill in Millennium Park, in conjunction with Chefs on the Grill. The event had over a dozen different chefs, from Chicago’s top restaurants, grilling signature recipes for all those in attendance. It was a fun night of celebration, camaraderie and thanksgiving for all the hard work that the WHA staff have done.
Crain's Chicago Business just named 1 North Dearborn one of the top workplace rooftop in Chicago. Wright Heerema Architects designed the rooftop amenity as part of a bigger repositioning project of the building.
Roger Heerema was invited to speak on a panel about Repositioning and Property Management at BisNow Chicago. The panel brought on top developers in the region to discuss their approaches in mixed-use and repositioning projects that is happening all over the Chicagoland area.
Wright Heerema Architects' Roger Heerema and Franklin Partners’ Ray Warner reveal how younger generations are transforming design in suburban and secondary markets.
Wright Heerema Architects & Franklin Partners are working together to revive 263 Shuman Blvd. This project checks a lot of boxes for young professionals, including spaces for food service and health and wellness. Not all suburbs are created equal though, and the building’s access to Naperville’s social center is something they plan to take advantage of as well.
WHA’s Carla Turk, Interior Designer, contributes a guest post highlighting 5 trends she came across at NeoCon 2018. Flooring transitions, nature-inspired materials and large scale patterns are among some of this year's takeaways.
New trophy towers attract more attention, but many older buildings are getting new looks. GlobeSt.com sat down with WHA's Roger Heerema to discuss how building renovations are transforming the office market.
Northrop Grumman Corporation hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony & reception for the opening of its newest facility at 1421 W Sure Dr. in Arlington Heights on June 19, 2018. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, 8th District of Illinois, Congressman Peter Roskam, 6th District of Illinois, Arlington Heights Mayor Thomas W. Hayes and local community leaders were special guests for the celebration.
Clutch’s 2018 Future of Work survey evaluated 1,003 office workers to investigate evolving social dynamics in the workplace. Reporter Elizabeth Ballou reached out to WHA's Scott Delano for his perspective on the results, who noted, “We live in a time where the rate of change is faster than it has been before."
Wright Heerema Architects is excited to announce Laura Scallon and Nicholas Pettit are the newest additions to our team. They join recent hires Sara Gotschewski, Pegah Setork, Noelle Kwak, Natalie Hicks and Laura Harmon.
WHA's Mel Chotiner, Interior Designer, was recognized by BOS and Haworth as a "Profile in Design" honoree. This program celebrates top talent in Chicago's design community by highlighting their professional backgrounds, inspirations and keys to success.
Wright Heerema Architects proudly announces the following promotions to our leadership team. See the team highlighted in Crain's People on the Move.
WHA’s Amy Meyer (Interior Designer) repped WHA in a tour of the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Designed by John Russell Pope in 1908, the historical residence is “a rigidly powerful, symmetrical structure without superfluous ornament.”
The brand experience can help attract and inspire a truly engaged workforce, especially when company values and culture are creatively incorporated into the workplace. WHA’s Scott Delano contributed his perspective in a piece for Illinois Real Estate Journal, and notes that designing a client's branded space often begins before they even move in.
As the demand for wellness-based amenities in commercial office buildings increases, architects and interior designers are tasked with generating creative ways of integrating them into design plans. Institutional Real Estate Inc.'s Reg Clodfelter discusses commercial real estate's effort to make these amenities available to tenants across the globe.
Co-founder, Roger Heerema, was a panelist at the Chicago Hottest Sub-markets summit, hosted by BisNow. The event focused on the current Chicago real estate and development scene.
Wright Heerema Architects is thrilled to be partnering with Franklin Partners on an exciting new redevelopment project in Chicago’s western suburbs. Working together, we’re reinventing the former OfficeMax headquarters at 263 Shuman Blvd. in Naperville.
Scott Delano was invited by WHA client Gould + Ratner to speak about law firm workplace trends at LawExchange International’s 2018 spring conference in Toronto, Canada. This conference is one of five annual events that brings together members from top commercial law firms to network, share professional updates and exchange best practices.
WHA partnered with Studio TK & Teknion for Refortify’s most successful year yet. With 13 forts, 36 “Little Architects” and 270 attendees at View Night, Radically Engaged helped raise a record-breaking amount of donations.
It was a pleasure to work on recent improvements at 1 N. Dearborn in Chicago's Loop with building owner, Beacon Capital Partners. Wright Heerema Architects led design services for new amenities at this turn-of-the-century property including “The Works” lower level lounge, a state-of-the-art fitness center, an indoor rooftop lounge that doubles as private event space, and an outdoor roof deck.
WHA’s Scott Delano contributed to Insight Magazine’s recent article about designing spaces for multiple generations. The piece addresses how the design community has rapidly accommodated having five generations—millennials, GenX, Gen Y, baby boomers and traditionalists—work alongside each other for the first time in history.
AIA Chicago’s transFORM is an interdisciplinary, interactive series focused on skill building for the business of architecture. Iana Kolev & Natalie Hicks proudly represented Wright Heerema Architects throughout the program, focusing on several following industry-relevant modules.
Wright Heerema Architects is excited to partner with Studio TK & Teknion for Refortify on March 29th! We’re teaming up with Breakthrough students (our “little architects”) to construct their fort designs using clothing, bedding & building materials. All materials used to build the forts will be donated to local organizations.
Wright Heerema Architects is designing the top-floor tenant lounge at 123 N. Wacker, home of new office space for the Chicago Bears. The lounge will feature 20-foot ceilings and a glass wall that opens during warm-weather months to create outdoor space. Additional areas being designed by WHA include the main lobby, fitness center, elevator lobby and 30th floor conference center.
Wright Heerema Architects is honored to support the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s mission by contributing to the 30th annual Commercial Real Estate Awards dinner. This event unites the city’s top architects, brokers, developers, property managers, interior contractors and design professionals to celebrate outstanding achievements in the industry, and to support the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Dwell Magazine’s Winifred Bird featured one of Scott Delano’s residential renovations in a piece that highlights the home’s history, the owners' vision and Scott's overall design direction. Outside his role of Design Director at Wright Heerema Architects, he typically takes on one private residential project a year.
Wright Heerema Architects is redeveloping a seven-story, 90,000 SF office tower in Grand Rapids, MI. WHA has worked with client Franklin Partners on several other office redevelopment projects including 25 Ottawa.
WHA’s Scott Delano discusses the commoditization of workspace in a piece for Work Design Magazine. When it comes to spec suites, he notes that designers and architects are responsible for creating solutions that are truly differentiated, and identifies four ways to do this.
Network Next Gen invited industry experts Scott Delano (Design Director, Wright Heerema Architects), Tom Marquardt (VP & Director of Interiors, HOK) and Genevieve Shanahan (Designer, Nelson) to contribute to the organization's first Podcast, Mind the Gap.
WHA’s Natalie Hicks, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, was voted in to serve another year as an appointed member for the Illinois Green Alliance (formerly USGBC Illinois) Board of Directors. This will be her second year on the Board.
WHA’s Laura Operti joined other industry experts as a Downtown & Suburban Office panelist at REJournals' 16th annual Commercial Real Estate Forecast Conference in Chicago.
Work Design Magazine's Elise Shapiro reflects on CBRE's Furniture Forum 2.0 and discusses what's next in our industry. After following up with WHA's Scott Delano and Haworth's Jill Stewart, it was concluded that there is room to develop better strategies and to lead to a holistic change in industry best practices.
The Huffington Post's contributing writer, Amanda Schneider, discusses custom furniture in the contract furniture industry. Her views on the market's Rising Demand for Custom Furniture supports four trending observations.
As fitness centers and Wi-Fi lounges become increasingly standard in Class A office buildings, landlords often face the tough decision of how to use space: tenant amenities or leasable space? Facing such a dilemma at One North Dearborn, Beacon Capital Partners engaged award-winning architecture and interior design firm Wright Heerema Architects (WHA) to create another way to approach the challenge: repurpose floors previously dedicated to outdated mechanical and plumbing infrastructure, into useable tenant amenity spaces.
WHA’s Roger Heerema will be a featured panelist at BOMA Suburban Chicago’s Members Lunch on Thursday, September 21, 2017 in Rosemont, IL. The discussion will focus on work space office trends including workplace findings, and how furniture helps support the new work environment within office suites, lobbies, lounges, and exterior spaces.
Headquarters Transformation Wright Heerema Architects served as Architects and Interior Designers for the new Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. headquarters at 2850 W. Golf Rd. in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Arthur J. Gallagher is one of the largest insurance brokerages in the country and now one of Rolling Meadows’ largest employers.
Published on PrismPub.com. Wright Heerema Architects announces Scott Delano has joined the firm as Design Director. He is a veteran Chicago-based corporate interiors leader with 25 years of experience in planning, architecture and interiors. In his new role, Delano is charged with leading, inspiring and growing Wright Heerema’s interiors practice to ensure exceptional client experiences.
Wright Heerema Architects completed an interior renovation for Alliant Credit Union’s expanding Rolling Meadows office. The announcement came on the heels of completing two successful interiors projects for Alliant, one of the largest credit unions in the United States.
Published on ChicagoArchitecture.org. Together with White Oak Realty, Wright Heerema Architects announces the grand re-opening of 200 W. Jackson, a classic 29-story office building in the heart of Chicago’s Loop that is now anything but traditional.
WHA helped building owners, Franklin Partners, reposition 25 Ottawa with a fresh new look to fit Grand Rapids’ growing metropolitan area. What once lacked user-friendly features now includes a renovated façade, a fresh lobby and tenant-desired amenities.