Audiovisual

Ghafari Associates

A Wall System That Opens Up Possibilities In business, collaboration is everything, but creating the right balance between openness and privacy can be a challenge. When Ghafari Associates needed to renovate their second-floor offices to create more private meeting spaces, they didn’t have to look far for an innovative and customized solution. Ghafari turned to […]

Oerlikon Metco

A Fresh Office Space Attracts Top Talent As a leading global technology group, Oerlikon Metco needed an office space that reflected their corporate values. Their forward-thinking culture appealed to top talent, but their previous office space lacked a physical manifestation of Oerlikon’s culture. As Oerlikon planned ground-up construction of a new headquarters, they knew their […]

NBS Ann Arbor Office

Repurposed Materials Make for a Fresh New Design With six team members separated over two Ann Arbor offices, NBS decided it was time for their local team to be in one space. The goal was to create an environment that delivered an authentic, on-brand office space that showcased NBS’s capabilities to integrate architectural products, floorcovering, […]

DTE Energy

A Vibrant Public Space Reimagined for Business Among the great new ideas in commercial building design is one that is centuries old: namely the town square. In Detroit, DTE Energy has created a dynamic, multipurpose gathering place with great appeal. The 40,000-square-foot, glass-enclosed Town Square is striking for its scale and flood of natural light. […]

Plunkett Cooney

On the Docket: an Office Evolution What does the modern law office look like? It’s an interesting question considering the law profession stands on tradition. But those highly polished, dark wood domains are making room for the shifting values of an evolving workforce. Plunkett Cooney is a great case in point. Their goals went beyond […]

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Learning Care Group

Knowledge is Power in this Workplace When the Learning Care Group (LCG) decided to upgrade its corporate offices, they were studious in their approach. To help them gather facts, NBS led a field trip to Steelcase headquarters. One insight that appealed to LCG was the Power of Place to boost employee engagement and performance. Applying […]

Solomon Plumbing

New and Used Boost Form and Function When NBS was commissioned for a redesign of Solomon Plumbing’s corporate offices, the challenge was twofold: create a space that reflects the organization’s brand—engaging, friendly and successful; and incorporate existing furniture into the new plan in fresh ways. As a crucial first step in the process, NBS conducted […]

Autoneum

Why Environment Matters to a Changing Workforce Recruiting and retaining the best talent has never been more competitive. So what are successful companies doing to attract the brightest minds? Hint: it’s less about free haircuts or onsite acupuncture, and more about purpose and engagement. In planning their new North American headquarters, Autoneum envisioned a place […]

NBS Showroom, Clawson

Connect and Collaborate. A Context for Success. There’s a lot to admire about a startup culture… the passion, the personality, the “anything-is-possible” thinking. Can those same qualities be cultivated anywhere? The renovated NBS Showroom in Clawson demonstrates the ability to apply that same energy and excitement to an established organization. As a showroom and workplace, […]

Walsh College, Troy

Business School Passes With Flying Colors Teamwork is at the heart of knowledge work, so it’s not surprising that the education field would adapt best practices to enable it. For Walsh College, that meant creating environments that would promote engagement, creative thinking and collaboration – not just for today, but well into the future for […]

NBS Great Lakes Bay Region Showroom

Creating a Place Where People Do Their Best Work What happens when a growing, forward-looking commercial interiors firm commits to building a new office space for itself? The most innovative ideas are put to the test. Walk through the front doors of the new Great Lakes Bay Region showroom and it radiates creativity, in both […]

DMC Children’s Hospital,

The Healing Power of Place How do you turn a sterile clinical setting into a calming, optimistic healing environment for kids? DMC, along with architects from HED, developed some innovative plans. This giant Lego-looking building is a stroke of design genius inspired by what kids thought a hospital should look like: happy and definitely not […]

Urban Science

The Drive to Innovate By inventing new methodologies to mine data for their automotive clients, Urban Science has become a model for innovative thinking. So it’s no surprise they’d want to meld rigorous thinking about how workplaces work with innovative space planning. Applying those two concepts is at the core of NBS’ expertise. To maximize […]

Michigan Pneumatic Tool

Tooling Up for Growth When Michigan Pneumatic Tool (MPT) decided to create a new corporate headquarters, an important objective was to create a state-of-the-art workspace that properly reflected the company’s dynamic culture. High on their priorities list was a workspace that supports organic collaboration. To accomplish this, we engaged all of our NBS divisions to […]

Health Alliance Plan
Tower 14 HAP Building

Changing Spaces to “Insure” Better Results Workspace design is a powerful, culture-shaping tool. Increasingly, organizations are using it to create real competitive advantages, in part by attracting the best and the brightest. The renovated HAP workplace is designed to do just that. So how do you make a workspace that attracts and engages top talent? […]

Lansing Community College,
Gannon Building

Comfort Zones That Help Students Succeed After four years of planning and renovation, the revitalized Gannon Building delivers on a strategic vision for how to engage students and build a strong academic community. Home to admissions, financial aid and academic advising, as well as being a social hub with its student commons and food court, […]

Lansing Community College,
Arts & Sciences Building

Making the College Experience Exceptional When schools function as passive learning environments, the educational experience can suffer. Lansing Community College (LCC) on the other hand, is a textbook example in how to engage and inspire students. To launch their visionary Building Forward initiative LCC retained Steelcase’s Applied Research & Consulting group to conduct research and […]

St. Luke’s Hospital,
Emergency Room

New ER Gets a Clean Bill of Health St. Luke’s has been a cherished Toledo-area institution for generations. But after more than 40 years in its current location, the busy ER wasn’t keeping pace with the demands of modern healthcare. Two issues were most important: without room to expand, the existing space had to operate […]

NBS Lansing Showroom

Walking the Walk: Workspace Strategies in Action What does space have to do with innovation and productivity? It’s a good question. As organizations look for new ways to compete more effectively, that question is becoming increasingly important. New research points to real estate as a critically important, though often underutilized asset. So what better place […]

Central Michigan University
College of Medicine, Administrative Offices

Cure for the Common Office Cube In developing a new workspace for this med school’s administration, several issues emerged as top priorities. Shared space was important to enhance collaboration and the learning experience. Flexibility was also important to support a mobile staff travelling from adjunct campuses in neighboring cities. And clean, open sight lines were […]

NBS Toledo Showroom

Toledo Transformation: Bygone Building Gets Modern Makeover When it comes to character this former electric company showroom in Toledo’s trending Warehouse District has it in spades. Case in point? Vintage oak floors, terracotta brick walls, massive timber beams and tooled sheet metal all contribute to its cool urban vibe. Following a gut-renovation by Thomas Porter […]

Airfoil Public Relations

Speak Easy: How Better Communications Inspires Better Ideas When it was time to update Airfoil’s office to reflect their thriving business in high-tech PR, one priority was to incorporate the latest communication and presentation technology. The goal was to enhance collaboration between colleagues and clients, often in remote locations. And no one knows workplace collaboration […]

Owen Moore

Savvy Strategy Balances Professionalism And Friendliness The impact of a new office design can reach beyond the obvious need for functional and aesthetic improvements. It can also create a new workplace dynamic that inspires professionalism and confidence. For Owen Moore Insurance, their new office space accomplished this with better individual workspaces for its staff while […]

Aegis Media

Welcome To The Creative Revolution The most inspired advertising today incorporates interactive, multi-platform, dynamic strategies. Like those created by Aegis Media for some of the world’s great brands. So when it came time to reshape the offices for this innovative firm, we created an environment that works like they do — inspired. Today, and especially […]

A&D

Ideas, Inspiration, Information