ONE Global now 7th largest in Top Giants

ONE Global Design Platform has now reached Number 7 in the overall rankings for Design Firms, based on data provided by Interior Design Magazine, Top 100 Giants, January, 2013.  Total documented design fees last year eclipsed over $65 million, and cumulative project size leveled off at approximately 25 million square feet installed.

The company was founded 3 years ago by Ron Carlson, who created Partners by DESIGN in Chicago, in association with co-founder Norm Liedtke of Meyer Design located in Ardmore, PA.  

Ron Carlson introduces ONE Global. (Click here for Video) Teaser, full story video to be released soon.

ONE Global is comprised of architectural and design firms spanning across the entire United States, Canada and Mexico. The organization is presently in discussions with additional firms which are located in the USA, Europe, Asia, Australia and Central America. Projections based on the present trajectory indicate that the group will surpass HOK and Perkins/Will to take the number 3 slot by 2014.

The group is unique because the partnership is comprised of the top ranked stand-alone independent firms in each major city. All of the individual firms have already achieved top recognition in their respective markets.   They possess best-of-class brands, with longstanding solid reputations and relationships. So the combination is proving to be a much more powerful, compelling and thus attractive model for clients than the traditional competing companies who employ the traditional "satellite office” concept.  

Ron & Norm interview with the Business Journal
Click here for Article

The most powerful common thread is how they all share a similar culture theme and vision.  The ONE Global lead partner located in each sector not only shares trust and preserves loyalty, but they are all close friends.

Partners in the Top 100 firms

2013 Top 100 Giants: Rankings:

Partners ranks 96th in Top 100 group of Design Firm Giants, completing a record year of 2.17 million square feet designed and installed for 2012.

Universal Technical Institute BTS in Lisle

New Midwest Regional Campus for Universal Technical Institute in Lisle

Lisle, Illinois will become home to the new Midwest Regional Campus for Universal Technical Institute (UTI), whose locations now span across the entire country, in or near 10 major cities.

The aerial picture below shows how the school is taking shape.  Partners is Architect of record, handling all aspects of design.



Aerial picture of progress at UTI's new campus home.
(McShane-Fleming Studios picture)

UTI is the leading provider of post-secondary education for students seeking careers as professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle, marine and NASCAR technicians. With more than 160,000 graduates in its 47-year history, UTI offers undergraduate degrees, diploma and certificate programs at 11 campuses across the United States, as well as manufacturer-specific training programs at dedicated training centers.

UTI challenged Partners to relocate their existing five building campus in Glendale Heights to a consolidated campus in Lisle. This new campus project redeveloped an existing 20-acre site adding three new inter-connected buildings for approximately 1,500 students and 200 staff. The three new buildings, totaling approximately 200,000 SF were efficiently designed to locate lab spaces and Custom Training Group areas on a path that exposes both current and potential students to various education components. In addition, all labs and classrooms are thoughtfully sited to maximize exposure to natural sun-light.

A critical portion of the design was the central lab space - the "high bay" - that anchors the three buildings and will serve as a focal point for the campus, both internally and externally.

United Way's Move

Crains - The United Way of Metropolitan Chicago has found a new home.  And Partners is right now in the process of designing their new interiors.  It will have some dramatic changes which respond to a shift in United Way's new view of the office space.

The non-profit plans to move its headquarters from the West Loop to the East Loop in May, signing a long-term lease for 28,000 square feet in the CNA Center, 333 S. Wabash Ave.

The new location, less than half of its current space, frees up capital and provides a more centralized location for the organization's staff, partners and volunteers.

Partners present efforts include:

 

After investigating United Way's work processes, Partners is creating new team interaction solutions which will improve organizational relationships  along with creating new standards for offices and workstations to accelerate collaboration. The new culture will also have hard wall offices relocated to the interior in order to bring in more natural daylight for all employees.

 

Areas of shared stations for consultants and temporary employees will be co-located strategically to benefit all groups.　

 

In order to support their role as a community "Convener",  Partners is creating a reception and conference center custom tailored to support to meet those goals.

Cultural Paradigm Shift happening within Corporations

A large cultural paradigm shift is now happening internally at even the largest corporations at all corners of the world, and it seems to revolve around the context of social communication and mobility. 

And it looks like it is all happening from the outside - in.

Here are are 3 compelling corporate cultural change stories so far this year:

HP is transforming into a socially connected business with social employees and social products.  It all starts with embracing change.  They now use the term: "From the garage to the cloud".  And they are creating what they call the "HP Social Enterprise".  So what was their first step?  To weed out bureaucracy.  

But of course, there are always the worry warts who frett about the Cloud; the security concerns, perceived lack of controling one's destiny and other negatives.  But according to John Hinshaw, Executive Vice President of Global Technology and Business Processes, "The people who are embracing this social enterprise are going to be the winners of the future."

The message here is that this new approach is now strongly reinvogtating HP's corporate culture. 

Second, let's look at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.  You think that a bank can't be mobile and social? "Can't" isn't in their vocabulary.
 

"We're changing the way banking happens" says Chief Marketing Officer Andy Lark.  CBA wants to turn every form of communication into a "social" form of communication. Change the customer experience.  Streamline the process, make it personal.
 

One of the hot CRM platforms (Customer Relationship Management) that CBA and other large companys are using today to help them get there is Salesforce.com. 
 

Starting out with just Facebook, their model has now turned into one of the most effective marketing platforms in the market today.  Bring in "Radian6"-  a digital banking system for Gen Y.  Twentysomethings are frustrated by their banks, with less than a fifth of Gen-Y saying they have recommended their banking provider.  There are at least four ways now that Banks can connect with Gen-Y on Social Media.
 

Financial institutions have been slow to adopt social media because of regulatory and privacy issues, but that’s beginning to change as they realize that social media and mobile solutions are the way to reach Gen-Y, a generation that prefers to tweet or text, instead of visiting a branch or dialing a call center.

Lastly, let's take a peek at O2, the leading provider of mobile services for the UK, Ireland and Germany.  O2 is evolving it's services and capabilities to become more social "both in terms of how we communicate internally and how we communicate with our customers."
 

The question here is:  How well do you know your customers? - or is it really: "How well would you like to know your customers?"
 

Using Twitter, Facebook and Chatter, O2 dove in and now feels the gigantic buzz inside the halls of their offices.
 

They started their model centered around a term called "Joined Up".  Joined up Business, Joined up Communication, Joined up IT  an the last part: "Joined Up Customers".  Just one example is how Chatter helps their engineers engage in crowd-sourcing to solve big problems.

 

Written by Ron Carlson, Founder of pbd in Chicago        Contact Ron at ronc@pbdinc.com

New Coyote Den Video

Video (above) - pbd's design for the "Coyote Den". 

 

Recent completion of multi-use and retreat space for staffers on the top floor of the Green Exchange. 

 

PBD designed the new home offices for Coyote Logistics housed in 100,000 square feet located at the Green Exchange Building, in Chicago.

Chicago's Coolest Offices 2012: Braintree

 

There's serious business going on in Braintree's expansive Chicago office, headquarters for the fast-growing online and mobile credit card processing company.

 





The treehouse room at Braintree offers a change of scenery - and seating.
Scooters (below) make getting around downright fun.
(Treehouse and Scooter photos by Erik Unger, Crain's)



 



 

 

Employees itching for a change of venue can retreat to a treehouse room with large wooden beams, hammock-style seating and natural sounds designed to promote relaxation. Another option: a Comfy Sack lounge, also home to a popular treadmill desk.

 

 

To let off steam, employees head to a large game room and kitchen area that is partitioned by see-through garage doors. With distractions such as video games and Hula Hoops, the area doubles as a gathering space and recently hosted a companywide town hall meeting.

 

Says Chief Operating Officer David Corken: “We wanted to be energetic, to be fun. You can see everything that's happening.”

 

(above published in Crain's October 22, 2012)

(also previously published in Chicago Tribune July 30, 2012)

 

The Best Places to Work in Chicago

Abt Electronics Co-Presidents Jon Abt, left, and Bill Abt
with Human Resources Director Jennifer Guzman at the store
in Glenview. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune) 

The Chicago Tribune yesterday released it's annual Top Workplaces survey, with a broad cross section of companies -- and dozens of new names -- earning recognition as the best places to work in Chicago.

Abt Electronics and Coyote Logistics are still both on top.  Coyote Logistics is the fastest-growing logistics company in the United States, repeating as the number 1 rated midsize employer.

 

PBD designed the new home offices for Coyote Logistics housed in 100,000 square feet located at the Green Exchange Building, in Chicago.