Confidential Chicago Law Firm

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

A bold workplace transformation gives a premier Chicago law firm the impact of relocation without moving, redefining collaboration, hospitality, or client experience.

Location

Chicago, Illinois

Client

Confidential

Expertise

Professional Services Brand Design Climate Action & Sustainability

Opportunity

A longtime Chicago law firm needed to evolve its workplace for a new era of legal practice, transforming its existing home to better support how the firm works today.

As the firm’s entrepreneurial culture and approach to client service changed, its workplace needed to keep pace without leaving its longtime home. The challenge was to make a familiar address feel entirely new despite the constraints of an aging 1980s office tower with lower ceilings and limited daylight. Rather than viewing the existing building as a limitation, the design team embraced the opportunity to shift perceptions, creating a more connected, contemporary workplace that better supports connection, collaboration, and client service.

Why This Matters

01
Existing Assets, Reinvented
This renovation demonstrates how thoughtful design can deliver the impact of relocation while preserving investment in an existing building and minimizing disruption.
02
Modern Legal Workplace
Hospitality-inspired spaces create new opportunities for collaboration, mentoring, and client engagement that reflect the evolving practice of law.
03
Making Constraints Work
Thoughtful design overcomes physical building constraints, proving experience matters as much as square footage in today’s workplace.

FPO Quote

Solution

Design interventions centered on connection, hospitality, and new ways of working turned an aging office into a contemporary environment tailored to the firm.

Rather than relying on major structural changes, the design uses targeted strategies to fundamentally reshape how the office feels and functions. Reconfigured planning strengthens connections across practice groups and makes more effective use of the existing floorplate. Two previously underused rooftops became outdoor terraces that extend the workplace beyond the building envelope, while a speakeasy-inspired lounge creates a memorable destination for informal meetings, client events, and daily interaction. Together, these design moves create a more connected, contemporary workplace within the firm’s existing footprint.

From brief to build: how targeted design reshaped an existing office without increasing its footprint.

Early design studies focused on how the existing office could feel more expansive and perform more effectively without increasing its footprint. The team analyzed circulation, sightlines, daylight, and client journeys while rethinking the floorplate around the streamlined workflows of modern legal practice. Reducing deep interior zones maximized perimeter offices and views, while glass partitions, reflective finishes, rooftop terraces, and hospitality-inspired gathering spaces became tools for making the workplace feel more open, connected, and engaging.

Open, Connected Experiences

Vertical and horizontal planning strategies reduced enclosed interior zones, creating a more expansive and engaging workplace experience.

Impact

The redesign transforms not only how the workplace functions but how employees and clients experience the firm from the moment they arrive.

The renewed workplace strengthens collaboration and client engagement while giving the firm a contemporary environment that reflects its entrepreneurial culture.

What Changed Because of This

01
Renewed Perception
Smart design gestures make a familiar workplace feel entirely new, transforming the employee and client experience without requiring a change of address.
02
Connected Culture
A hospitality-inspired lounge and rooftop terraces create destinations that encourage informal collaboration, mentoring, and meaningful client engagement throughout the day.
03
Future-Ready Brand
Every design intervention reinforces the firm's entrepreneurial culture, projecting a workplace that feels innovative, confident, and prepared for the future of legal practice.

Today’s law firms need workplaces that support collaboration, confidentiality, mentorship, and new ways of serving clients.

Team

Project Leadership

Jim Prendergast

For four decades, Jim has shaped workplaces that balance architectural rigor, business performance, and human experience. As a Principal and Design Director in Gensler’s Chicago office, he leads complex interior and base building architecture projects while helping advance talent, design excellence, and innovation across the firm.

[FPO] Randy Roucka

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FAQ

01

How can an office renovation feel like relocating without moving?

By redesigning circulation, gathering spaces, workplace amenities, and the client experience, organizations can dramatically change perceptions while remaining in their existing building.

02

How can floorplate planning support modern legal practice?

Thoughtful planning can reduce deep interior zones, maximize perimeter offices and views, and create stronger connections across practice groups.

03

What makes a law firm more collaborative?

Shared gathering spaces, hospitality-inspired amenities, connected planning, and flexible meeting environments encourage interaction across practice groups while supporting focused work.

04

Why are outdoor amenities so valuable?

Terraces provide employees and clients with access to fresh air, informal meeting space, and wellness benefits while extending the workplace experience beyond the building envelope.

05

How does workplace design influence client experience?

Hospitality-driven environments communicate a firm's culture and professionalism from the moment visitors arrive, creating spaces that support meetings, events, and relationship building.

06

Why renovate instead of relocate?

Renovation can achieve many of the benefits of a new office while preserving location, reducing costs, minimizing disruption, and making better use of existing real estate.

Related Work

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Related Expertise

Professional Services Brand Design Climate Action & Sustainability

A bold workplace transformation gives a premier Chicago law firm the impact of relocation without moving, redefining collaboration, hospitality, or client experience.

A longtime Chicago law firm needed to evolve its workplace for a new era of legal practice, transforming its existing home to better support how the firm works today.

Why This Matters

Design interventions centered on connection, hospitality, and new ways of working turned an aging office into a contemporary environment tailored to the firm.

From brief to build: how targeted design reshaped an existing office without increasing its footprint.

The redesign transforms not only how the workplace functions but how employees and clients experience the firm from the moment they arrive.

What Changed Because of This