Medline Industries Offices by Ware Malcomb

Ware Malcomb’s design for the Medline Industries offices in Northbrook, seamlessly integrates team connectivity and well-being within a striking seven-story building, fostering collaboration through streamlined pathways and inviting open spaces.

Ware Malcomb announced the completion of Medline Industries, LP’s new corporate office in Northbrook, IL. Ware Malcomb’s Oak Brook office provided full interior architecture and design, furniture management and building measurement services for the seven-story 214,560 square foot project.

Medline Industries, LP is the largest provider of medical-surgical products and supply chain solutions, serving all points of care. Located just four miles west of its global headquarters in Northfield, the new Northbrook location brings together the company’s operations, information services, quality, and inventory management teams into a centralized location.

“The overall client approach was to bring together these essential teams that keep their operations moving day-to-day,” said Dawn Riegel, Principal, Ware Malcomb. “Our design adopts the concept of a ‘streamlined path’ into each floor’s space plan, with wellness and hospitality as the main drivers for their new office space.”

As Ware Malcomb set out to fit the company’s program needs into an existing seven-story office building, its most significant challenge was to plan for flexibility and connectivity for the teams that are going to occupy the space. The design team proposed a space design that accommodated a balanced ratio of individual workspaces, meeting spaces, amenity spaces and support spaces on each level. Each workplace floor follows the streamlined path concept, establishing central collaboration hubs along two main thoroughfares that connect all other key amenities for clear wayfinding.

Significant focus was placed on achieving a lobby design with a classical, clean first impression, utilizing new architectural wayfinding elements and a variety of finishes that connect all the floors.

On each of the upper levels, open collaboration areas ‘marketing portals’ were designed as hubs welcoming people and serving as centralized collaboration zones for each floor. Balanced, linear and direct design elements were intentionally juxtaposed with softer, organic and biophilic touches to enhance the employee experience in these centralized connection zones.

Pantry spaces are included on each floor, placed to take advantage of natural lighting and to offer additional options for employees to gather. Additional program elements include numerous phone/focus rooms, flexible training rooms, conference rooms and huddle space for teams. Ware Malcomb also worked with Medline to utilize existing furniture where possible from other Medline locations to complete the facility.

MEP Engineering Services were provided by RTM Engineering, General contracting services for the project were provided by Power Construction, and the owner’s representative was Transwestern.