Northwestern University James L. Allen Center

The James L. Allen Center houses the Executive MBA Program and Executive Education programs for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The building includes two lobbies, classrooms, dining spaces, an auditorium, and 150 guest rooms that are used by lecturers and visiting executives. The facility had not been renovated in several years and the furniture was starting to show signs of wear. “We wanted a new and updated look,” said Dan McCrudden, Senior Director of Facilities, “to make it feel like a conference center or hotel that these executives were used to visiting.”

The Allen Center partnered with Henricksen to select and install new furnishings for the guest rooms and lobbies. As part of the discovery process, Henricksen toured them through three hotels so they could evaluate the furniture options available to them. “We looked at the Essex hotel,” said McCrudden, “They had just remodeled it and we liked the look and feel of the bedrooms, so we wanted to model our space after that, but within our own budget.”

The furniture they chose for these updates was Kimball Hospitality. It had a high-end, modern look that lightened up the space and yet still fit within their project budget. One of the things they liked at the Essex and wanted to incorporate into their own guest rooms were the platform beds. “It was much more modern than what we had,” said Steve Peavler, Associate Director of Facilities.

“We replaced the big wood headboards,” said McCrudden “The rooms were very heavy, all wood and a more traditional, antiquated look.”

Like many projects that occurred during COVID-19, long lead-times were expected. What came as a surprise, however, was an additional delay once the product arrived in country. “We understood lead times would be long because of the pandemic,” said McCrudden. “But we had a certain expectation that when it was finally shipped there would be no more delays. Then it turned out that our product was on the container ship that got stuck in the Chesapeake Bay.”

This unique delay fostered innovative and quick thinking by the project team. “In order to keep business continuity, we had made the decision to store the existing furniture in a different building during the whole process,” said Peavler. Because of the additional delay, they brought the old furniture back to the Allen Center and re-installed it, which allowed them to stay open and operate while waiting for the new pieces to arrive.

“Henricksen was limited in what they could do about the long lead times,” said McCrudden, “But the communication between Henricksen and Kellogg was great, so at least we always knew what the expected timeline was.”

The guest room furniture was eventually installed in two phases of 75 rooms at a time. Henricksen worked closely with the Allen Center to ensure the space could still operate while the installation was taking place. the team also had to pivot around the lobby furniture selections. “We actually went with off the shelf pieces that were readily available, but still met the design requirements,” said Peavler.

The completed project has breathed new life into the Allen Center. The overall feedback from guests and staff has been positive. People are surprised and enthusiastic about the lightness and comment that the bedrooms look nicely updated.

“Henricksen is a great partner,” said McCrudden, “This was probably the most challenging project we’ve done together, but they are still our favorite furniture supplier.”