ATLAS FINANCIAL
Atlas Financial Holdings, Inc. purchased a three-story, 63,000 square foot commercial office space in early 2017 with the intent to transform it into something modern yet practical. Featuring an open-office environment, access to natural light no matter where you are, and plenty of space to hold events and meetings, Atlas Financial now has the tools to attract the right kind of staff and keep them engaged once they are hired.
When Atlas Financial moved their headquarters to Schaumburg, Illinois in 2017, the studio and design firms took part in a design-build collaboration to transform the space to better meet their clients’ needs. By renovating this space, Atlas Financial’s goal was to develop a completely new take on their office – a contemporary but industrial workspace that both attracted new talent and retained existing employees. A sense of connectedness was also a major factor to strive for, as they wanted staff to feel connected throughout the two floors that the office occupies (the first floor is leased to tenants). With twenty-five interior offices, a handful of conference rooms, huddle space, work rooms and a new café, it was important to not only have meeting spaces for employees but also areas to bring in potential clients and hold special company events.
When creating the new mechanical and lighting systems, our team had to be creative so as not to disrupt the design that already existed in the building. Initially, the electrical system had to address multiple services that were set at different voltages. Additionally, a substantial portion of the multi-tenant electrical distribution required consolidation while keeping house and existing tenant loads separated. The new electrical distribution system the team integrated merged the new electrical service with the existing distribution on-site while minimizing outages and downtime for all the building tenants.
For the mechanical system, the key was to keep it functional while also falling in line with the aesthetic requirements of the project. The team started out with existing ductwork that was set extremely low, so top priority became finding a way to raise the ductwork to the highest point, providing the space with the ‘open feeling’ that they were seeking. The finalized design utilized the heat pump system to compartmentalize the ductwork, raising it to its maximum height. In addition, a clean agent (gaseous) fire suppression system was installed throughout the building, and a CRAC unit was integrated to protect the equipment in the new data center and computer room to improve both reliability and safety within the facility.
