We moved!

If you haven’t had the chance to stop by Objective Paradigm’s new HQ in the 200 WJ Building of Chicago’s Financial District, make that a priority in 2020!

In the meantime, learn more about the design of our office space and how it’s impacted productivity, culture, and more in this Q&A with OP’s Chief of Staff, Dayna Stoller.

Meet OP’s New Space 

OP Marketing: When did you move and why this location?

Dayna Stoller: We moved this past July. It was important for us to stay in the vicinity of our previous office space because we did not want to impact our employees commutes so we moved right across the street. 

The 200 WJ Building offers so many amazing perks to our employees that we did not have access to before. The 28th Floor offers a state of the art gym that is free for all employees as well as a locker room, bicycle room, Farmer’s Fridge, and extra conference room spaces.

The icing on the cake is the indoor/outdoor event space with a built-in bar called the Notch. The Notch is where we hosted our 20th anniversary party, as well as our Queer Tech Club meetup. 

OPM: What were some of the design requirements from your team?

DS: First and foremost, OP’s team is growing quickly and the most important thing was that we had enough desks to accommodate our team. Our other “must-haves” were an open office floor plan with high ceilings and tons of natural light. It was also important to us that we have break out spaces. 

OPM: Tell us a little about Spark?

DS: Spark is a Chicago design firm that specializes in branded environments. They were great to work with and have featured OP’s space on their own site. 

When we sat down with Spark, they asked us a series of questions that allowed us to hone in on how our space could help reflect our company culture and values.

Each meeting was super collaborative and easy to work through and they have fantastic ideas and design skills. They also made it very easy and facilitated all the work with the separate vendors and worked very hard to meet a tight deadline. We trusted them wholeheartedly and our space turned out beautiful.

OPM: What was the most challenging part of the relocation?

DS: Since this was my first experience in managing an office move, I learned A LOT in regards to project management and juggling tight deadlines.

While helping to make decisions on the buildout of our new space, we had to wrap up our old space, manage employees concerns and expectations as well as hire vendors to help us move. From meeting with relocation and decommissioning companies, to interior decorators and architects, there were a lot of moving pieces. 

Let’s take a tour!

OPM: Spark creates beautiful signage, talk to us about how the lobby and it’s signage design came about and how the space is being used.

DS: Since the lobby is the very first impression of our space, we wanted it to feel welcoming and comfortable. From the brown lush leather chairs to the potted plants (not pictured), we wanted the lobby to create a sense of zen for our guests. The keyboard wallpaper provides a sneak peak of what is to come once you enter the space.

OPM: Speaking of signage, this one really speaks! Tell us more about the iconic ‘hustle’ wall.

DS: OP’s culture is deeply rooted in our company values. Our values are honesty & discernment, hustle & drive, teamwork & versatility, and after multiple meetings with Spark, we decided that “movement” is a theme that best illustrated our company’s culture. 

With each design element we chose, the aspect of movement is integrated and the hustle wall is the culmination of this movement. When you are close up to the wall, you can see that the word ‘hustle’ and it’s background is comprised of computer keys. There are also some easter eggs in there if you are looking closely. 

OPM: The meetup spaces are fantastic! Talk to us about your lounge and kitchen space. 

DS:  We put the most time and effort into designing the kitchen and lounge space since that is where we spend the majority of time as a whole team. All of our company wide meetings take place here and many of our employees hang out during lunch and play ping pong in this space.

We wanted the space to feel different from the rest of the office so that the employees felt like that could come in and relax. It was important for us to have greenery in the space since it provides a sense of calm. 

OPM: What are some of the other spaces in the office and how are they functioning across teams?

DS: We were really excited to offer multiple breakout spaces in our new office. Each of our meeting rooms were named after our values. Versatility is a breakout space that doubles as a recording studio for our team to create training videos and Hustle is a private meeting room that doubles as a new mother’s room or prayer space. We have two phone rooms for employees to make personal calls. We also have two other large meeting rooms. 

OPM: The furniture is functional and stylish – how did you choose it, where is it from and how is it working out?

DS: We worked with Henricksen Furniture to customize every single piece of furniture in our office. From the base of each chair to the color of our backdrops of our standing desks, each piece was chosen deliberately to help create the office ambiance we wanted to achieve.

OPM: Congratulations on your new space and thank you for sharing your design thoughts with us! Is there anything else you’d like to add?

DS: Our office design is definitely a labor of love and we are still in the process of completing some of our smaller areas. We wanted to be able to live in the space and get a feel for what our needs are. We will be looking to complete it in the next few months. Even though it is not 100% done, we are very proud of how it turned out. 

Chief of Staff, Dayna Stoller, creates internal initiatives that contribute to the overall well-being of OP’s employees. Dayna has tackled an overhaul of benefits and onboarding processes, vastly improving the experience for all while nurturing a culture that received Crain’s Chicago Best Places to work recognition in 2018. Dayna also helps to lead Objective Paradigm’s efforts in the charity founded by Ryan Pollock, T4Youth.