Category Corporate

TD Ameritrade

by Xibitz Corporate

Headquarters

Omaha, NE

In opening a new headquarters, TD Ameritrade brought together its corporate, technology, and operations teams, which had been dispersed throughout the Omaha metropolitan area. The result, using an open-plan floor plate, accommodates these business units’ continuously changing needs, offers improved workspaces, and enhances collaboration.

HOK, with Xibitz’s support, achieved the company’s interior branding goals, creating a high-energy, fun and collaborative workplace that employs cues from the financial industry, community, company history, and sustainability achievements. A two-story atrium wall sculpture, a history wall embedded with iPads, a self-updateable community display, a monochromatic award display, and an abacus sculpture celebrate the company’s story and promote interaction.

The facility is Nebraska’s largest LEED® Platinum certified building. 

Newell Rubbermaid

by Xibitz Corporate

Design Center

Kalamazoo, MI

With brands as diverse as Sharpie and Levolor, and 2013 net sales of $5.7 billion in more than 100 countries, Newell Rubbermaid continues to set its sights higher. To facilitate the achievement of this goal, its new Design Center gathers the industrial, graphic and usability designers from all of its brands around the world under one roof.

Perkins&Will, engaged Xibitz to confirm its designs for the Center through prototypes and mockups and to carry out fabrication and installation. The project focused on two key elements that elegantly articulate the spirit and energy of the Design Center. First, more than seven miles of ash wood slats run the length of the wall and ceiling of the Center’s main corridor, creating a continuous link between all of the design teams. The second element stands opposite the entry doors. Seemingly random wood blocks form a solid wall that conveys to visitors and reminds designers of the fortifying power of collaboration. Together the two elements deliver a message of cohesion, flexibility and experimentation.

Airbus

by Xibitz Corporate

Experience Center

Washington, D.C.

The Airbus Experience Center utilizes state-of-the-art technology and interactive displays, providing elements of discovery along the way to help elevate the conversation to a place where we can discuss the ways in which we are all now connected. As the global industry leader, with a focus on the future, Airbus is using this experience to represent their incredible story and reinforce their past and future impact.

To do so, Airbus enlisted Hornall Anderson and Xibitz to create a state-of-the-art Experience Center located capitol district center in Washington, DC. Hosting a range of visitors from airline customers to congressmen, the center invites guests into a greater understanding of Airbus Group’s role in shaping the future of travel, defense and aerospace. The result is an industry-leading sales and educational tool, and a powerful reminder that the sky connects us all.

Brookfield

by Xibitz Corporate

Brookfield, WI 

Design group, Kahler Slater, engaged Xibitz to produce and install branding elements and a suspended sculpture for the Brookfield Conference Center. Peter Ogden, Senior Environmental Brand Designer for Kahler Slater, stated, ““The working concept for the sculpture references the notion of migration—a nod to the great blue heron rookery in Brookfield—consisting of organic forms of a few varying sizes suspended above.” Xibitz solutioned the hanging mechanism and coordinated with the ceiling contractor, visiting the site prior to production to map the location of each hanging point to ensure the install matched the design intent. Several samples were produced for the design team showing various metal shapes, sizes, finishes, and hardware options to assist Kahler Slater in deciding the right look and feel for the sculpture. Thought and care went into developing the hanging points to make sure each “bird” remained level and hung in just the right way.

The end result consists of shapes in “flight” in a combination of metallic finishes both natural and painted suspended from the ceiling with stainless steel cables. The stunning sculpture hangs in the atrium of the new Community Center as if the herons were in natural flight.

The Community Wall is produced from layered MDF and aluminum with map details etched and infilled on the face of the aluminum. A combination of digital photo frames and direct printed photo panels in various thicknesses and sizes are installed in a collage over the background. Other elements included a dimensional logo, digitally printed acrylic panel describing the work on the sculpture as well as an engraved aluminum plaque consisting of building credits for the project.

Conagra

by Xibitz Corporate

Corporate Headquarters

Chicago, IL

When Conagra Brands decided to relocate their corporate headquarters from Omaha to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, they partnered with Perkins&Will and Xibitz to get the job done. 

The design approach was to divide the very large floor plan into four different neighborhoods, with a connecting north/south axis at the center called the Central Market. This multi-purpose hub features a variety of meeting spaces inspiring opportunities for interaction. The four neighborhoods also have unique gathering space called parks. These each have a unique identity based on places found on a family farm including The Land, The Mill, The Barn and The Orchard all made from printed and layered recycled barnwood.

Consumers Energy

by Xibitz Corporate

Consumers Energy Headquarters

Connections Learning Lab

Grand Rapids, MI

Consumers Energy (CE) had lofty goals for its new Leadership Center: provide a single hub for leadership training sessions, employee orientation and more; differentiate it as a company; and position it as an employer of choice in Michigan. Within this new training hub, the utility needed a Learning Lab that could adapt and vary experiential learning opportunities, and use advanced graphics techniques to foster collaboration and networking. 

To achieve this goal, CE awarded the project to Xibitz – which assembled a team including Peter Hyde Design and A/V specialist Angle Park. The results included dimensional graphics and interactive displays, connected with a series of overhead colored tubes to help participants understand organizational dynamics and learn to convey concepts like “Making CE Great” and “Future Energy Sustainability.” 

Hillshire

by Xibitz Corporate

Corporate Headquarters 

Chicago, IL

When Hillshire Brands relocated from its Downers Grove, Illinois home to the Chicago Loop, it was doing more than moving its headquarters. It was transforming its brand. With a new name and renewed energy, the former Sara Lee Corporation turned to designer Perkins&Will for the creation of a collaborative, professional, and inspiring environment.

Partnering with the designer, Xibitz provided innovative ways to carry out Perkins&Will’s intent for showcasing branding elements in the revitalized building. Deliverables included environmental graphics like a dynamic, three-dimensional, painted acrylic logo; an element featuring employee names printed on optically clear film and applied to glass; and photo-quality elevator lobby graphic panels – consisting of eight individual units totaling 27 feet in length – fabricated for easy updates. In addition, Xibitz furnished material and performance mock-ups, video footage making clear the procedure to update changeable panels, and a demonstration of the innovative lighting technology specified by the designer.

Willis Tower

by Xibitz Corporate

Skydeck Chicago Visitor Experience

Chicago, IL

No one likes to wait in line. So when Hornall Anderson was looking for a partner to execute a new queuing experience that would celebrate a world-renowned tourist destination – Skydeck Chicago at Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) – the Seattle-based design firm called on Xibitz.

Comprised of three major experiences that entertain and educate visitors as they wait to ascend to the famed 103rd floor, the Skydeck queue was part of a massive renovation of the iconic landmark, which sought to marry the tower’s legacy with its vision for the future, connecting visitors to Chicago’s rich history, culture and people.

Hornall Anderson provided a beautiful and well-executed design; Xibitz provided Hornall Anderson with a turnkey partnership experience. The result transformed what had been a dark, lifeless waiting area into a richly immersive and interactive environment, with touch screen activities and exhibits, and a symphony of technology, art and strategic planning that position the tower as an integral part of the city’s identity.

DOW Jones

by Xibitz Corporate

Headquarters

New York, NY

Dow Jones has an enviable brand that’s taken over 125 years to build. So when News Corp. bought the company and sought to locate several media departments in one place, it hired STUDIOS to create a new home for its New York area-based print, online, and wire services divisions.

Partnering with Design360, Xibitz supported Benchmark Construction and STUDIOS with way-finding signage and environmental branding to highlight the achievements of the media conglomerate and complement the architecture and rich history of the printing industry – all in a matter of six months.

Examples of unique materials that Xibitz and Design360 utilized include raw, etched zinc to mimic the old printing presses. Custom exhibits displaying Pulitzer Prizes and other awards employees have won over the years are integrated into wall niches and composed of blued steel, richlite and subtle lighting. And antique photographs of employees working in the newsroom many years ago are printed directly on large pieces of glass.

Empire State Building

by Xibitz Corporate

Sustainability Exhibit

New York, NY

Ever since its completion in 1931, the Empire State Building has been one of New York’s most beloved, and one of America’s favorite icons. When its owners invested in an unprecedented retrofit to dramatically decrease the building’s energy usage, the project was worthy of news – and of a new way to educate its visitors about the positive global impact of both energy-efficient and sustainable living practices.

To bring the landmark’s energy retrofit program to life, Seattle-based design firm Hornall Anderson created an engaging experience that translates the technicalities into an easy-to-understand, compelling experience in the Observatories’ Visitors’ Center. Hornall Anderson enlisted Xibitz as its partner to combine physical components with impressive technology, and seamlessly integrate digital and sculptural elements to produce interactive exhibits.

A one-of-a-kind, narrative-driven experience blends digital media and museum-quality exhibits to communicate this monumental achievement, while inviting visitors to replicate the energy-saving measures to reduce their own carbon footprint. Through an artful combination of analog and digital storytelling, highly technical content is presented in a way that is instantly digestible for a large international audience. Granite, custom-matched to the Empire State Building’s existing interior, glass, vinyl applied graphics, video, color, and dynamic lighting all help deliver the project’s objectives. In addition, a downloadable mobile application program gives visitors the option to retrieve more information following their visit.