Designing our JLL Minneapolis office to inspire our people

Employers across the globe are redefining what their workplace design looks like to best align with their brand, people and real estate strategies. A physical office reinforces culture, drives collaboration and innovation, enables professional growth and brings a company’s best to its clients and employees. To do that, today’s workspaces need to incorporate enticing amenities, collaborative spaces and focus on employee wellness needs to attract and inspire people.

An excellent location and impressive tenant amenities are vital components for a positive employee experience and something our new office building at RBC Gateway does very well. The other key component? An office design that matches your workplace strategy.

Our mission was to create a space that illustrates JLL’s mission, values and culture - here’s how we did just that at RBC Gateway.

The process

It was important for us to take employee perspectives into account to create a space tailored to our culture and employee needs. A “space committee” was chosen and made up of a team member from each department with various seniority levels to ensure voices from the entire team were represented. Together, we crafted a survey to help us define what was important to include in our new space.

The survey results were clear. Our new office needed to:

1. Tell our brand story
2. Add more meeting spaces—both internal and client-facing
3. Keep individual workstations and offices for focus areas
4. Incorporate areas for collaboration and socialization

The biggest takeaway of the survey was that our office environment needed to reflect our people, our product and our global footprint, in addition to telling our local story in Minneapolis.

Telling our brand story

While integrating the sleek, bold JLL red and softer tones of gray and white were an obvious component of the design, we also incorporated welcoming, Minneapolis-centric touches. As a part of this initiative, we added several local pieces of artwork to the space, including a wall mural of downtown Minneapolis and Grain Belt fabric art. There are several other Minneapolis-oriented pieces of artwork, including maps and murals of the city in our social and collaborative spaces.

Along with modern finishes, our employees also noted the importance of capitalizing on natural light and greenery in the office. Research indicates that natural light can increase our productivity levels and enhance our moods. With its 10-foot, floor-to-ceiling windows, bountiful natural light streams throughout our entire office space. To further capitalize on this feature, we installed upholstered benches in four areas of the office—all with incredible city and river views.

By blending elements of JLL, Minneapolis and natural light, we were able to establish a warm and welcoming, yet energetic, atmosphere for clients, guests and employees alike.

Meeting spaces

The previous JLL Minneapolis office consisted of a large and small conference room and three team rooms. The new office has more than double that—with four meeting rooms, five huddle rooms, three phone rooms and a library table near the hub, which can be used as a meeting space.

Each meeting space was thoughtfully designed for different functions and has varying degrees of privacy and size. This allows us to accommodate the various ways we meet throughout the day. For ease of use, these presentation rooms are equipped with 80-inch screens and access to JLL’s Blackbird site selection visualization platform. Additionally, employees will be able to use the JLL Jet hybrid workplace app to book conference rooms.

Individual workstations and offices

Creating designated focus areas for head-down work was another key component of our office design. From our survey results, our team liked the size and balance of private workstations compared to offices. All individual workstations will be the same size for order and simplicity, and teams will sit next to one another. Offices are given to team members with seniority and those who are often on calls or meeting with other team members.

Collaboration and socialization

According to our research, 35% of employees feel vulnerable to mental stress while working in the office, which is why the office should evolve to offer an experience as comfortable as at home. To convey this atmosphere, our new office space will include an expanded break area, social lounge, library section and work café for further collaboration in a more relaxed setting. These areas all contain a mix of furniture with comfy, homelike fabrics and patterns.

Your workplace is an extension of your brand, values and people. Understanding your business goals, company brand and people’s needs are a crucial part of designing an office that inspires and excites your team to come to work every day. 

Use our Fit Out Guide to upgrade your space

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has forced us to reimagine the workplace of the future. Create a space that works for your people with the upgrades to support the way you and your team works best. Download our Office Fit Out Guide to discover benchmark costs to build out a range of office types across major markets in the United States and Canada.