step into my office
Mesirow makes a statement with high ceilings, glass walls and shared conference rooms. Plus, pingpong. |
By design
When Mesirow outgrew its old headquarters, there wasn’t a downtown space its leadership liked that could fit its 800 downtown employees. So the financial services giant built one. Mesirow moved into its new tower in 2009. It occupies 12 stories and leases out the remaining 33.
Powerful lobby
Mesirow’s lobby has high ceilings and a lot of light. “This is my favorite place in the whole building,” says Chairman Richard Price. “When we first moved everybody in here, I used to come sit here for an hour or two every day and just enjoy it.”
Leveling out
When Mesirow moved, it wanted more interaction between its 27 business units. So it moved conference rooms from individual floors down to a firmwide conference area. “Everybody was against it,” Price says. “[But] it took about 10 minutes after they moved in to say it’s absolutely spectacular.”
Pingpong in the C-suite
When Price succeeded the late James Tyree as chairman, he didn’t want to be blocked off from the people he’d worked with for decades. The chairman’s wing reflects that. Price’s office is surrounded by glass walls, and a pingpong table provides friendly competition with job candidates.
Act global
In the lobby, a metal sculpture by Milwaukeebased Kahler Slater testifies to Mesirow’s global aspirations and its local origins. Viewed from one perspective, the massive piece is a map of the world. From another angle, it’s an aerial view of Chicago.