Weitz on Schedule to Deliver Custom-Designed Headquarters for IMT Group

August 23, 2018  /  News Blog,

Two years ago, the site of IMT Group’s new corporate headquarters was a sprawling cornfield. Now, it is three months from being successfully constructed into the custom-built space the insurance company envisioned for its employees.

IMT started imagining its new office three years ago with architecture firm Shive-Hattery. The Weitz Company got involved in early 2017 after earning the opportunity to serve as construction manager for the project. Upon getting engaged with IMT and Shive-Hattery, Weitz immediately focused on planning the building’s critical needs – none more imperative than its exterior façade.

The façade is composed of white precast, black granite, glass and accents of red metal panels that come together in a design tailored to IMT Group’s brand. Compared to the flat, square surfaces most buildings commonly possess, this combination of materials added more than one layer of complexity to the build process. To ensure it would go efficiently, the framing, structure and air barrier were coordinated upfront, and then the Weitz project team developed a full-size mockup that incorporated all exterior materials prior to the construction of the actual exterior wall.

The mockup helped the project team identify how to best fit the materials together when the façade was installed by making half a dozen minor, but important, design changes in advance that allowed the exterior building envelope to be more constructible.

“Mockups require extra work and coordination on the front end of the project but the value they provide is immense, especially on a project like this with unique and complicated exterior envelope details,” said The Weitz Company Senior Project Manager Mike Cooper.

The interior of the three-story, 85,000-square-foot building also has unique features to complement the customized exterior. There are trendy stadium stairs that open to a large, terraced patio with more seating options; a two-story café with a café/bar mix; and private offices mixed in with more open workstations. Additionally, the company’s red, black and white diamond-shaped logo inspired several design components, including various light fixtures, the style of the reception desk and the back wall of the lobby.

Office amenities include a fitness room, recreation room and TV lounge area. A half-mile walking loop will be integrated into the 16-acre site, which will have 423 surface parking spots.

IMT Group and its 275-plus employees will occupy the new corporate headquarters in late December following its completion in late November.