Downers Grove, IL | 21,700 SF
UGN Automotive hired BOX Studios and real estate firm MBRE to help them create a new HQ that would improve recruiting and retention without increasing rent costs. Their previous office was located in a nondescript building without nearby amenities in a suburban industrial park. The office space was dated and dark, and the floor plan was inefficient due to oversized private offices, workstations, and outdated mailing and filing areas. UGN also had an internal gym as a compromise from being so far from other amenities. The BOX team worked with MBRE to vet several buildings, focusing on centralized commuter locations, amenities, and spaces with great natural light. The search resulted in identifying a building that gave UGN space with three sides of windows for great natural light, access to major highways and restaurants, and a conference center and gym as building amenities.
The new office was reduced from 30,000 to 21,700 square feet to keep the rent cost neutral, while maintain all of the programmatic requirements of the company. This was accomplished by utilizing the building conference center for all-hands and large group meetings, eliminating the internal gym, downsizing private offices and workstations while maintaining a 1:1 seating ratio, shrinking print/copy/mailroom functions, and eliminating most paper filing. BOX worked with UGN’s CEO, CFO, and HR, team throughout the design process to ensure the core objectives of the project were maintained. As the designs progressed, BOX provided design collateral to the UGN team to help build advocacy and excitement with their staff and to keep the focus on all the positive elements of the new space.
