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Candy manufacturer Ferrara Candy recently hired architecture firm NELSON Worldwide to design their new part office, part R&D center in Chicago, Illinois.

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May 6, 2024 — NELSON Worldwide welcomes Rebecca Muchow, AIA, CID, LFA, LEED AP, as Account Leader/Senior Project Manager, Mixed-Use. Skilled at navigating complex project design conundrums, Muchow will contribute to NELSON’s market growth in the Minneapolis area and sustainability efforts within the firm and their enterprise partner, Windward Engineering.

Muchow boasts 20+ years of architectural practice, combining client service with simple, elegant, and environmentally responsible design. Muchow’s dedication to sustainability, combined with her diverse project experience across various knowledge markets, positions her to further NELSON’s commitment to fostering a future where sustainable practices seamlessly integrate with innovative design solutions. Bringing authenticity, collaboration, and a strategic design mindset to her role, Muchow’s values align seamlessly with NELSON’s diverse and innovative cross-section of work, talent, and leadership.

Muchow notes leading the sustainability and certification effort for the first ever LEED and LEED Platinum project in North Dakota, and for project architecture for the new North Dakota Governor’s Mansion as a highlight in her career. She received her Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from North Dakota State University.

NELSON Worldwide designed Channel Partners’ new office in Minnetonka, focusing on fostering camaraderie and productivity through a dynamic layout featuring vibrant brand colors, social interaction spaces, and strategic lighting.

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CHICAGO — May 14, 2024 — NELSON Worldwide welcomes April Goshe as Studio Leader, Technical Leader, Workplace. In her new role, Goshe will utilize her diverse expertise in commercial architecture to create industry-forward experiences that align with NELSON’s regional Chicago and national client business objectives.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Goshe looks forward to supporting talented team members to push boundaries for career and project success. A strong advocate for leading change, Goshe will leverage her exceptional technical background in project processes, technical standards, and refinement. Skilled in all design phases–from drawing development to specifications and code analysis– Goshe’s creative and analytical approach to design aligns perfectly with NELSON’s mission to boldly transform all dimensions of the human experience.

Goshe has refined her skillset as both a consultant and an owner representative, boasting 25 years of experience across workplace, retail, and healthcare verticals. She has completed projects for several Fortune 500 companies. Highlights  include the Johns Hopkins Hospital, ALSAC St. Jude, Walgreens, Gogo, and SAP Fieldglass.

This year, a diverse team of NELSON design leaders attended industry-defining events, representing practices across our organization, including workplace, civic and justice, education, hospitality, mixed-use, multifamily, and adaptive reuse and repositioning. Each of these leaders was there to be inspired and to continue boldly transforming the human experience through design and architecture.

We are excited to share our findings and insights around key themes that are driving innovation and transformation. Join us as we explore the intersection of creativity, purpose, and innovation in design, discovering how these trends are poised to influence the spaces we inhabit for years to come. In this report, we will cover trends in sustainability, connection, health and wellness, equality and equity, aesthetic influences, and trends that push the boundaries of design.

In recent years, physical amenities have become an imperative perk to differentiate your property’s experience, but the rise of COVID-19 has shifted consumer behavior and the role of the workplace (check out our post on Top 10 COVID-Safe Amenities). Soon, pressure for employees to return to the office full time will ease and it will be up to landlords to create a differentiated foundation for programming, engagement, and collaboration that tenants not only want to return to but cannot be replicated at home. The traditional definition of amenities will expand to support lifestyles – both in and outside the property – and successful future perks will be a blend of digital offerings and experiential environments, as our teammate Holly Williamson recently shared with the New York Real Estate Journal. 

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Leading Regional Trends: Northeast |  Southeast |  Central |  West

Good Reads | Featured Project

Northeast: Urban Convenience

Even post-pandemic, urban hubs in the Northeast will still value convenience in their workplace offerings. From secure bike rooms to commute-tracking apps, the focus will be on ease of experience, as much as safety. With public transit still a concern, offices should consider adding perks like an Uber allowance or electric scooter rentals for alternative transportation options. Landlords might even consider offering additional square footage in satellite buildings to give tenants and employees more flexibility in where they go to work, providing a dedicated network rather than a dedicated office. Consider conducting tenant surveys to understand your commute breakdown to provide more relevant offerings.

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Southeast: Foodie Focus

The foodie culture of the South will need to be reimagined in the wake of the pandemic. Landlords will need to get creative to offer a differentiated food and beverage experience for their tenants, with safety in mind. Consider win-win partnerships with local restaurants, food trucks, catering apps like Relish, and even cloud kitchens, to offer employees unique, localized food offerings in a more controlled environment. Create dedicated drop-off zones for food delivery with warming drawers, refrigerators, and disposable utensils to reduce touches and streamline the process. 

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Central: All Season Entertainment

Now that tenants have been forced to embrace the working from home experiment, the role of the office is shifting. While heads-down work can easily be accomplished at home, the office will be need to be transformed into a social destination – an experiential hub for brands, dedicated to hosting clients, encouraging employee engagement, and facilitating teammate collaboration – and amenities will need to follow suit.  Consider creating more elevated, year-round spaces that can flex depending on the occasion and get employees excited about an excuse to return to the office. 

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West: Wandering Wellness

A healthy lifestyle is nothing new in this region, but a renewed focus on holistic, outdoor wellness will reign supreme in the coming years. Create differentiated amenities like hiking trails, dedicated meditation areas, or artificial turf for multi-purpose events and activities, to allow your tenants to unwind and recharge in a safe environment. If you’re short on square footage, consider app subscriptions for on-demand content like Headspace, LulaFit, or Peloton.

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Good Reads

• 10 COVID-Safe Building Amenities
• Reimagining amenities for the future of workplace
• LulaFit adjusts to coronavirus crisis by shifting to virtual amenities programs
• The best workplace amenities are the ones your employees don’t even notice
• Food is a big deal at work. Here’s how the pandemic will change lunch and snacks
• A place to meet, a place to relax: what members want from their workspace
• Fitbit rolls out ‘Ready for Work’ COVID-19 symptom tracker
• The amenity evolution
• The future of work is hybrid: Work from home and the workplace
• The amenity effect: making your office building more marketable

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Featured Project: Nomad Tower

We reimagined this 39-story building in New York City’s upcoming neighborhood known as NoMad, located north of Madison Square. Elevated amenity spaces including a private lounge complete with ping pong, pool table, and arcade games. In addition, tenants can take advantage of a conference room, 200-person amphitheater, fitness center, private coffee bar, and New York’s largest bicycle storage and bicycle access to an office building.

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See full project details  View Asset Strategy

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As the global pandemic forces retail and restaurant brands to radically adapt, pivot and innovate, this is an opportune moment for the two industries to learn from each other. Our design and strategy teams recently joined forces to weigh in on the TOP 10 experiential strategies from each industry—identifying who does what best.

The conversation in HR departments is evolving from employee wellness to employee well-being. What’s the difference, and how can law firms address this shift through progressive office design?