Kent Savage, Owner of Apex Supply Chain Technologies, purchased a second generation property in Mason, Ohio to relocate the head-quarters for his high-tech company. Apex develops and designs proprietary industrial vending machines, as well as the cloud-based inventory management system used to handle inventory. The 85,400 sf office building accommodates a large open office, customer experience center, R&D laboratory space, ware-house, and distribution center.
Phase One was the general office, R&D, ware-housing, and distribution portion of the project. The client was experiencing rapid growth and running out of space in their existing location but did not immediately require use of all 85,400 sf. Selected areas of the building were assessed for code compliance, and building systems were updated to allow for a quick, online transition. These spaces were then “closed” until needed in the future. Working with a furniture company that had an excellent relationship with Apex, a mix of closed offices and open workstations were designed throughout the complex. In addition, a series of informal gathering spaces, as well as extensive break areas, help to provide collaboration and company-wide interactive spaces. The R&D lab was configured in an area of the building that contained a large amount of existing utilities to reduce the cost of adding new service lines. The warehouse and distribution are-as were located close to R&D, as well as the customer experience center, to allow for easy transition of display vending machines in and out of the showroom.
Phase Two involved the Customer Experience Center (CXC), selected exterior renovation work, building signage, and an engaging employee bistro. With a long list of existing and potential customers coming to their new headquarters, a well-designed CXC was para-mount and strategic to be located adjacent to the main entrance. The building exterior was branded to the new ownership.
In both project phases, emersion DESIGN engaged consultants necessary for complete design, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural, and audio visual engineering. Construction cost was approximately $1 mil-lion.