Faegre Drinker Office Build-Out

After the law firms Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath merged in 2020, the newly formed legal giant, Faegre Drinker, sought to consolidate two downtown Chicago offices into a singular future-forward workspace combining the two client-centric cultures. 

Spanning the 30th-33rd floors of the new BMO Tower at 320 S. Canal Street, the 105,000-square-foot, Class A office space includes private offices, paralegal open workspaces, conference rooms, IDF rooms, storage, a mail room, kitchen/lunchrooms, a conference center, and a “Commons / Town Hall” space. Faegre Drinker’s new space leverages workplace trends and best practices outside the legal industry, promoting hoteling, mobile/hybrid flexibility, and attorney interaction, and is considered a pilot for their other offices nationwide.  

With a project duration of only five and a half months, supply chain challenges posed a potential impact to the schedule. The project team thoughtfully utilized early procurement packages and was able to sequence the work to accommodate material delays without impacting the turnover date. Adding to the schedule complexity was that the build-out of the office space happened concurrently with the completion of the tower itself. With the loading dock and skip hoist prioritized to the building’s contractor, the Faegre Drinker project team was challenged with coordinating some tight delivery windows and managing ever-changing site conditions. They successfully navigated these challenges by remaining flexible and closely coordinating with the building’s developer.