The Problem
BIO-TECHNE Denver creates tools and programs that accelerate medical and life science research. A Fortune 500 Company, BIO-TECHNE focuses on continually monitoring scientific trends in order to anticipate their clients’ future needs. While the company rapidly grew and expanded, it lost sight of a different trend altogether: collaborative workspaces.
With each building expansion, the BIO-TECHNE office became more disjointed. Tall cubicles blocked natural light, and winding hallways cut off departments from one another. As a result, collaboration became challenging and cumbersome. To Operations Manager Todd Young and Director of Supply Chain and Customer Relations Rachel Giesler, the BIO-TECHNE office also felt out of sync with the company’s overall brand identity and its young, vibrant staff. He understood that a cutting-edge, growing organization needed an inviting space, where employees could gather to innovate.
The Process
BIO-TECHNE reached out to Contract Furnishings to inquire about purchasing new cubicles, but after meeting with their designers and visualizing the possibilities, Young, Giesler, and team began to reimagine their office in an entirely new building. Contract Furnishings played a significant role in helping BIO-TECHNE take a big leap into a new office space that would ultimately better meet the needs of the growing company and its energetic culture.
“As a company, we struggled early on to determine the best solution for our team. Contract Furnishings helped us make those hard decisions by shedding light on things we were not considering,” said Young. “They helped us visualize the overall concept and carefully choose our product. Then, they were one hundred percent with us, side-by-side ever since we moved in, ensuring that we are settled and set up for success.”
BIO-TECHNE employees wanted a workspace that included open, bright spaces while offering their executives the private offices they needed. The BIO-TECHNE team insisted the offices incorporated large windows to allow for plenty of light to shine through to the more open areas. Then, Contract Furnishings helped divide those open spaces into collaboration areas with furniture that served multiple purposes and moved with ease. Movable whiteboards, for example, are stationed through the building’s gathering places to encourage impromptu meetings and collaboration.
Focusing primarily on aesthetics and the floor plan flow, BIO-TECHNE might have overlooked an important aspect of a large furniture purchase: ergonomics. Contract Furnishings made sure to introduce ergonomics to the equation early on since investing in ergonomically-designed furniture upfront comes with substantial cost savings. Presented with Contract Furnishings “Good, Better, Best” approach, BIO-TECHNE comfortably chose sit/stand desks that fit into their budget and excited their staff.
The BIO-TECHNE team also chose to weave their brand identity into their new workspace with furniture, wall paint, and carpet. Leaving their outdated office behind, the company wanted to ensure that they chose colors that lasted. Contract Furnishing designers suggested a carefully-chosen pallet that included subtle earth tones with pops of color. Taking into account the on-trend colors, Contract Furnishings pushed BIO-TECHNE to think ahead, suggesting that the pops of color remain on smaller, replaceable items like file cabinet tops and chair covers. This way, changing with the times didn’t come with a huge cost. They also helped determine which colors worked best on furniture and which were better left on walls.
The Finished Product
The Contract Furnishings approach is more flexible than most furnishing companies. The staff pays close attention to what the client wants. They listen with intention, not to respond, but to hear. And then, they are present every step of the way. This approach proved a perfect match for BIO-TECHNE.
“We have transformed our workplace by creating an environment in which everyone can get together. Our new office is already making us even more successful,” said Young. “Groups of employees that never saw each other are coming together. Communication and collaboration have been amazing. It will be interesting to see where we are a year from now.”