September 2022 Project Spotlight | SoftwareONE North American Headquarters

SoftwareONE, a leading global provider of software and cloud technologies solutions, is relocating its North American Headquarters Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. The office space is located on the second floor of the historic Dye House and focuses on employee-centric elements to increase that increase collaboration and engagement. The project includes the remodel and build-out of the entire floor, totaling 17,000 SF.

The space features an open environment fitted with high-end AV features, lighting, and furnishes with about three-quarters of the floor dedicated to office and employee collaboration areas. New amenities include multiple open office spaces, enclosed offices, collaboration and conference rooms, and training rooms. The design also features a high-end kitchen and break room, a game room and multi-purpose room, along with a new reception, lounge area, and fireplace.

Initial construction began in July 2022 with selective demolition down to the industrial pre-cast columns. The completely open space served as a blank canvas to create a floorplan that addressed all of SoftwareONE’s needs, desires, and wishes. Due to long lead times, the construction team worked closely with the design team at project onset to identify value engineering options and substitutable materials.

Construction of the new office layout centered around upgraded HVAC and electrical systems retrofitted to the building’s central system. The upgraded electrical system is fit with modern fixtures; most notably a Connectrac System that serves as a two-fold solution to address company’s hybrid work approach. The system runs wiring and connections to each of the 80 workstations but can accommodate up to 200 employees allowing them to connect anywhere in the office.

The floorplan also called for construction of a high-end kitchen, which did not exist previously. This required the team to install plumbing modifications and appliance fixtures and upgrades like a new water heater and pump. Other work includes the remodel of the existing common bathrooms and new construction of a single, gender-neutral bathroom and a mother’s room.

Due to construction activity in an occupied building, the team maintained a strict site logistics plan to minimize disruption to lower and upper tenants, mitigate risk and noise pollution, and adhere to owner specifications for work on the historic building. The team is also used the third floor as a staging area to temporarily house early procured furniture and equipment so as to not impede construction progression or incumber the public areas or tenant operations of the building.

The objective of the new office is efficient high-end technology paired with ample connectivity. This is especially important for an international cloud solutions software company with offices and remote workers stationed across the globe. In addition to the Connectrac System, the office “is equipped with two training rooms that each have microphones throughout to pick up sound from everyone in the space, as well as two moving cameras to ensure both the speaker and the audience are captured for those tuning in virtually. There are ample outlets to keep employees’ laptops charged, including portable outlets.” (Nykiel, 2022).

With the company seeing employees spend more days in the office compared to remote work, the office is setup to feel more comfortable and homier. “It has a “resimmercial” design style, according to the company, combining residential elements like couches and comfy chairs with more traditional commercial office furniture — a nod to the company’s hybrid work approach.” (Nykiel, 2022). The high-tech customizable fireplace is also an added element to give the office a warm and inviting environment to help encourage collaboration and productivity.

We would like to recognize our project team for their hard work, adaptability, and dedication which has made this project a success so far. The team includes Mitch Berti, Assistant Project Manager, and Tim Williamson, Superintendent. We would also like to thank SoftwareONE and RINKA for selecting Greenfire as their trusted construction partner and the building owner, Founders 3 Real Estate Services, for making themselves available to our requests.

Source: Teddy Nykiel (2022). First Look at SoftwareONE’s New Milwaukee HQ Designed for Hybrid Work. Milwaukee Business Journal.