Will better business come from light-filled atriums and lake views? Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management is about to find out.
This week, after several years of planning and nearly three years of construction, the school opened the doors to its 415,000 square-foot Global Hub. The new space has a double-atrium design, "hanging" conference rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows lining all five above-ground floors, and stunning views of Lake Michigan (and even the Chicago skyline from the upper floors).
The Hub will be home to Kellogg's full time MBA students, faculty and student-facing staff, as well as the economics department, with about 2,000 people passing through its doors everyday.
It's certainly an upgrade from Kellogg's former home in the Jacobs Center, a concrete-heavy building set on Sheridan Road away from the lake.
Toronto-based architecture firm Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg (KPMB) designed the building to be a "fluid space to incubate ideas, inspire learning and build community," according to Kellogg. The building has four wings, including one devoted to design and making, centered around a 6,000 square-foot three-story atrium and central "collaboration plaza." There's a second faculty-focused atrium on the top floors with additional space for symposiums, seminars and offices. There are study lounges and group work space scattered throughout, flexible classrooms that can transition from flat to tiered over the course of a summer, and glass conference rooms that hang above shared spaces.
"It speaks to our ability to create an environment – physical, emotional, cultural – that can attract, shape and catalyze an unparalleled global community of courageous and collaborative leaders," said Sally Blount, dean of the Kellogg School of Management, in a statement.
Here's a look inside the new Global Hub.
Note: The story has been updated to reflect the correct number of years the building was under construction, the faculty floors and that the building is not yet LEED certified.
