Ramsey Solutions, founded by financial consultant, author and radio personality Dave Ramsey, was seeking a new home for The Dave Ramsey Show and the company’s more than 500 employees in Franklin, Tenn. They enlisted Gresham Smith to provide architecture, interior design and civil engineering services for a new 204,000-square-foot, six-story corporate headquarters and 15,000-square-foot employee and customer amenity center, to be located on 47 acres in the Berry Farms development. Gresham Smith’s project team set out to create a flexible, adaptable facility that embraces Ramsey’s spirit of fiscal responsibility and budget savvy while meeting the company’s future growth requirements.
The headquarters and amenity center comprise the first phase of a multi-phase development. The space will feature two live broadcast studios and a variety of webinar, blackbox and podcast studios for the company’s broadcasts. Interior features include open workstations that can accommodate more than 1,000 Ramsey Solutions employees, ample access to daylight, and numerous indoor and outdoor spaces for team gatherings, lunches and devotionals. The connector will include an 800+ seat auditorium space, a dining facility and full-service kitchen, as well as a coffee shop and bookstore for visitors. By offering a broad range of settings for a variety of work styles, the space supports flexibility, connectivity and equality among team members. The team also introduced many amenities that will help the company to attract and retain top talent, develop and promote their public personalities, and foster professional development.
The building is oriented toward I-65 to maximize visibility, and it features a stone tower with the Ramsey logo at the top. The design is inspired by early 20th century brick structures and maintains the classic aesthetic of neighboring buildings in Berry Farms, while introducing modern elements of metal and stone façade detailing. Future phases will comprise two additional buildings totaling approximately 380,000-square-feet and a 50,000-square-foot conference center.