The First Facility Management Blog

On November 19, The Chicago Theatre was highlighted by a group from VOA Associates Inc. that recreated that iconic building for the annual “Gingerbuild” competition held at the Allsteel/Gunlocke Chicago Resource Center. Using traditional gingerbread ingredients, VOA earned the honor of most delectable design in the pre-build category.

Recreation of The Chicago Theatre

Meanwhile, the team from Whitney Design created a humorous parody of the TV reality show “Project Runway,” that earned runner-up in the speed-build category.

This year’s event attended by more than 100 Chicago area architects and designers, raised funds for Designs 4 Dignity, a charity organization that supports the transformation of existing non-profit spaces into creative, comfortable working environments through pro-bono design services and in-kind donations.

When Boston-based designer Justine Sterling, of Justine Sterling Design, was nearing the completion of a recent expansion project for her client, the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), she realized the non-profit was hitting its budget limit on the new warehouse and distribution facility with little remaining to adequately furnish the modest space allocated for the organization’s management office.

In looking for a solution, Sterling turned to colleague, Amy Hill, an Allsteel Architecture & Design Specialist, who saw this as an opportunity to repurpose Allsteel furnishings that had been used for local trade show displays.

Now complete, the Food Bank, which distributes approximately 30 million pounds of food annually has its reception, office, and conference room areas furnished with Allsteel chairs and tables.

“Building a new facility was a daunting task, and most of our financial 
resources were used for the warehouse, equipment, and racking,” said Kathleen Marre, chief administrative officer for GBFB. “Our office furniture budget was very minimal. Without the donation from Allsteel, much of our space would have gone empty. Our employees work very hard, and providing them with such beautiful furniture really improves our working environment.”

Allsteel and its Boston-based team were pleased to know the donation had such an impact. “The Greater Boston Food Bank provides such an important service to the community,” said Hill. “So, we’re proud to know we’re helping them in their work and, at the same time doing our part toward an Allsteel initiative to reuse and repurpose our furniture.”

Read TFM’s June 2009 coverage of furniture reuse and recycling, “Avoiding The Landfill”.

Allsteel and HBF Textiles have partnered to offer a selection of HBF Textiles graded in for Allsteel’s workplace furnishings. This is the first partnership for HBF Textiles with any furniture manufacturer. In forging the relationship, Allsteel has also crossed a new threshold as it significantly increases its materials portfolio not just by number but by scope. The initial collection, which draws from HBF Textiles’ existing groups, will be showcased at NeoCon® 2009, in Allsteel’s Chicago Merchandise Mart Resource Center.

Selections from the Allsteel / HBF Textiles partnership

Amy Luthman, Allsteel’s product manager for surface materials, and Mary Jo Miller, HBF Textiles’ director of design, headed what turned out to be a curatorial process in developing the lineup of textiles. With a discerning eye, they applied criteria that considered content, scale, and performance factors. The resulting launch includes almost 50% of HBF Textiles’ total line, and of these approved fabrics, 75% are upholstery fabrics. Seventy-five percent of the Allsteel approved HBF Textiles fabrics contain recycled content, rapidly renewable properties, or are MBDC Cradle-to-Cradle Certified.

Several of HBF’s designer collections by world-renowned architects and interior designers are represented in the Allsteel range, such as those by Barbara Barry, Laura Guido-Clark, Envision Design-Ken Wilson and Diana Horvat, and, due to be introduced at NeoCon, a series by Champion Platt.

When Cancer Care Ontario wanted to refurbish its offices with Allsteel, Inc. furniture, the Canadian cancer services agency preferred to find a new home and more sustainable solution for the used furnishings it was replacing instead of sending them to a landfill. Summerlee Office Solutions, the Allsteel dealer responsible for the new sale, found the answer, albeit unexpected, thousands of miles away: four schools in Belize that were in desperate need of supplies and furniture.

Summerlee was able to find the schools thanks to Green Solutions North America, Inc., a Nova Scotia-based organization dedicated to repurposing and recycling used office furnishings and supplies. Through Green Solutions and its School in a Box program, Summerlee loaded a 40 foot container with Cancer Care’s castoffs plus various supplies and donations from others, and shipped it to the Cayo District of Belize, a rural area of farmlands and rugged mountains. But the donation didn’t just supply furnishings for the needy school children. The holiday season came early for 75 kids who also received backpacks filled with school supplies and an American dollar, courtesy of Summerlee and Allsteel. 

The project, which began a year ago, involved more than 100 hours of volunteer time from the Summerlee staff, with added help from Allsteel’s Market Manager for Ontario, Peter Livingstone. Summerlee also covered the shipping costs for the project.

“Working with Summerlee and Green Solutions on this project was truly rewarding, and it’s great that Allsteel now has its own active partnership with Green Solutions,” Livingstone said. “It’s fantastic to witness how we can have a positive impact not only on the environment but also in extending a helping hand to our fellow man.”

This past fall, Allsteel became the first American manufacturer to officially partner with Green Solutions North America, Inc., having had the direct experience with the Belize project. 

When architects and designers are tasked to design with gingerbread and frosting, anything is possible. Imagine a three-foot replica of Chicago’s Federal Building adorned with chocolate windowpanes, or a traditional pagoda, beside a melted blue cough drop lake.

These were just some of the edible masterpieces unveiled at Gingerbuild, Allsteel’s third annual challenge for Chicago’s architectural and design community. Hosted December 11 at the Allsteel/Gunlocke Chicago Merchandise Mart Resource Center, the competition and reception attracted about 150 guests including 24 architecture and design firms who demonstrated their imagination and ingenuity with the creation of gingerbread constructions. All of the cookie creations were auctioned at the event, raising almost $700 for the Illinois Interior Design Coalition (IIDC).

Winners were chosen in several categories: Pre-Build, Speed-Build, Dream On, Out-of-the-Box, and Size Matters.

Wight & Company topped the Pre-Build category with its LEED office gingerbread house, accompanied by a LEED score sheet, “certifying” the creation as platinum. (Pictured from l to r in photo below: Nicole Hellwig, Angela Schafer, Jeanie Kim. Also on the design team but not pictured was Jonathan Peck.) Contestants in this division opted to bring their designs ready-made.

Four participants (three pictured here) from Wight & Company took the Pre-Build category.

In the Speed-Build category, which took place on-site, contestants had two hours to think on their feet and assemble an innovative structure. Even with the clock ticking, Torchia Associates completed a replica of a Monopoly board, complete with a house and hotel to win top honors.

The judges also awarded other crowd-pleasing designs. The Dream On prize went to VOA’s vision of the Asian pagoda and garden. (Pictured below with their creation are Manjula Rao and Julie Zeng. Also on the design team, but not pictured were Shawn Ursell, Nick Fawell and Amanda Eggleston.)

Meanwhile Ross Barney Architects’ satirical interpretation of Sarah Palin’s quote, “I can see Russia from my house,” topped the Out-of-the-Box category.

VOA’s traditional pagoda won the Dream On category at Gingerbuild 2008.

The grandeur of the Chicago Federal Center replica designed by Wright Heerema Architects earned top honors in its very own category, Size Matters.

The panel of judges for the event included Cheryl Durst, executive vice president of IIDA; Lisa Skolnik, a contributing editor to Metropolitan Home and Chicago Tribune journalist; and Jeff Krol, project manager at CB Richard Ellis. The auction proceeds benefit IIDC’s mission to protect the integrity of the Interior Design Title Act and its assurance that only those professionals registered by the state are identified as “interior designer” or “residential interior designer.”

Allsteel Inc. has become the first U.S. manufacturer to partner with Green Solutions North America, Inc. The newly formed alliance allows Allsteel to connect its clients with Green Solutions’ Revive program, which removes unwanted assets—including office furnishings and equipment—and repurposes the useable materials, either donating them to nonprofit organizations, schools and healthcare facilities, or recycling them locally.

“The Green Solutions Revive concept is simple yet brilliant, and we are enormously proud to be a partner because it offers our clients a cost-effective and environmentally responsible solution for disposing of everything from unwanted desks and carpeting to computers and copy machines,” said Mike Veal, Allsteel’s vice president of sustainability and alliance partnerships. “It has the potential to reduce tons of waste from landfills as renovated or new facilities are developed. And, in managing the entire divestiture process, Green Solutions also provides us with a complete stream analysis, ensuring accountability on each project.”

Based in Nova Scotia, Green Solutions began operations in 2006. This year the company had 300 furniture removal projects that benefitted 160 schools and 300 charities throughout Canada. In expanding its activities to the U.S., it has opened offices in Atlanta and Minneapolis. There are plans to open another 16 locations in 2009, including in New York, Chicago, and Houston.

“When we first met with Allsteel, we were immediately impressed with its absolute commitment to sustainability and knew it would be a perfect fit with our Revive program,” said Green Solutions chief executive Jim Reid. “We live in a throw away culture and this has to change. It’s no longer acceptable business practice.  Allsteel is showing great support for this change by partnering with us”

According to Veal, Green Solutions also will be an integral part of Allsteel’s own Take Back program, which guarantees that if Allsteel cannot repair its lifetime-guaranteed products or if they are at the end of their use, it will remove and recycle them locally at no cost. Green Solutions will manage this removal process.

To read TFM’s recent coverage of asset reuse, see “Quality, Cost, Sustainability” from the October 2008 issue.