Where You Think Inspires What You Think: Sonoco by Whitney Architects

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A living room vignette at Sonoco’s iPS (innovative Packaging Solutions) studio (Photography: courtesy of Whitney Architects)

For many companies seeking a new, inspiring workplace, talent retention is the top priority. As top talent grows scarcer, executive leadership groups continue to press interior design and architecture firms for more gorgeous, cutting edge environments that their employees will value to the point of making their career choices with said workplace designs in mind.

But employee retention is not always the most pressing matter for workplace design. In fact, the opposite – inspiring clients rather than employees – was the top priority for Sonoco, a 100+ year old packaging solutions company based in South Carolina.

Sonoco, headquartered in Hartsville, SC, is the largest employer in the state of South Carolina. On its large campus, Sonoco occupies a two-story, 30+ year old iPS (innovative Packaging Solutions) studio building for its most creative work.

 Entrance to Sonoco iPS (innovative Packaging Solutions) studio
Entrance to Sonoco iPS (innovative Packaging Solutions) studio

After recently completing a full brand identity reinvention, Sonoco wanted to breathe life into its iPS studio to reflect its innovative culture. Due to the company’s secluded headquarters location, it was having difficulty drawing potential and current clients to the studio, where the magic of its product creation actually happens.

“Hartsville is in a remote location – about two hours from the Charlotte, NC, airport,” said Whitney Architects founder and CEO Mark Stenftenagel. “The company really needed the studio to reflect how innovative its cultural was.”

 

Sonoco came to architecture and design firm Whitney Architects with a strong perspective of what it wanted the new space to be; articulated as, “Sometimes where you think inspires what you think™.” And so company leadership wanted to reimagine a place and a process for innovation to help its customers keep pace with the changing demands of the marketplace and of consumers.

Private office
Private office

To tap into what exactly customers need and want when they visit the studio, Sonoco leadership engaged the entire company in a cultural climate survey. Although employee demographics stood at 50% Baby Boomers / 50% Gen X and Y, the survey results pointed to an overwhelming desire to provide an environment that supported collaboration and creativity. In addition to providing inspiration for design of the new space, the survey also provided the added benefit of highlighting the current cultural climate as well as the vision employees see for their future at the company.

Employees wanted to make the new iPS studio a desirable destination for their customers – a place that could provide customers with resources and experiences they might not receive from Sonoco competitors.

“They wanted to create a full experience for how clients can interact with the product,” said Nici Nilles, associate at Whitney Architects. They had this great concept articulating the idea that where you think inspires what you think. But from a space perspective, they weren’t exactly sure how to get there.”

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A kitchen vignette, a space for focus groups to try out product prototypes

Sonoco also wanted a space that would speak to the immense diversity of its product capabilities.

“They have a lot of different product capabilities, and they work with so many different market segments,” said Kate Logan, senior project manager at Whitney Architects. “They wanted the ability to showcase to customers all of the different types of things they can do.”

The design team zeroed in on this priority by creating customer-focused vignettes that simulate real life environments so that focus groups can test out new ideas and products. In these spaces, a brainstorming session between Sonoco team members and clients can travel full circle from start and finish. The vignettes include simulated kitchen, living room, bathroom and retail environments, where clients and focus groups can try out product prototypes.

The design of these vignettes also capitalizes on Sonoco’s pointed investment in state-of-the-art technology features, including touch screen technology and non-invasive video recording capabilities that allows Sonoco staff to monitor peoples’ reactions to new products. A prototyping lab provides an opportunity to mock-up design solutions while clients are on site. A state-of-the-art presentation room, outfitted with Coalesse SW_1 chairs and DIRTT walls with built-in touch screen technology, rounds out the high-tech offerings.

A state-of-the-art presentation room is outfitted with Coalesse SW_1 chairs and DIRTT walls with built-in touch screen technology.
A state-of-the-art presentation room is outfitted with Coalesse SW_1 chairs and DIRTT walls with built-in touch screen technology.

The project originally centered on the first floor, client-facing areas. Midway through the original design plan, however, Sonoco realized it needed to provide that same improved experience for all its employees, including those in traditional offices on the second floor. From that point on, the project shifted focus to recognize the importance of a complete transformation of its internal workspace as well – a true reflection of ‘where you think inspires what you think.’

“As the design process went on, they began to think, ‘How are we really living the full change of our new collaborative work culture?’” said Ms. Nilles.

Open office with Steelcase c:scape workstations
Open office with Steelcase c:scape workstations

The new inclusive focus would also help them in recruiting young talent to Hartsville. Aesthetically, the reimagined studio offices, accommodating 50-60 people in 24,000 square feet, are open, colorful and airy – a notable departure from the private office-heavy workspaces of the original design, which hadn’t been renovated since the 1980s.

When visiting the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, Sonoco fell in love with the bright, open designs in the Steelcase showroom, and eventually chose the c:scape workstation systems for the design’s low paneling. Employees can choose to work in a variety of environments, and a post-occupancy survey found they collaborate more often, both in work functions and social interactions, such as eating lunch.

Staff break room
Staff break room

Sonoco has a strong brand history dating back to 1899, so it was important that the new studio pay tribute to its history. Upon entering the new lobby, visitors are greeted with a structure constructed of Sonoco’s own Sonotubes® – a product the company was built on. Whitney’s design team integrated the tubes into the architecture of the lobby to appear as part of the original structure, aiding in the support, growth and success of the past 100+ years. The Sonotubes® were also cut and hung off custom brackets on the vignette walls to display client packaging designs.

“We worked with Sonoco employees to see what we could do with the Sonotubes®,” said Ms. Logan. “It was interesting for them to work with their products in an architectural capacity.”

Entrance lounge area with architectural component designed using Sonoco’s Sonotubes®
Entrance lounge area with architectural component designed using Sonoco’s Sonotubes®

Graphics also played a major role in celebrating the company’s achievements over the last 100+ years, including the hundreds of patented products that innovative minds at Sonoco have produced in finding solutions for their customers. To celebrate those achievements, a custom mosaic patent wall displays just off the main lobby. Additionally, custom graphics of the studio’s new i6 Innovation Process™ (the company’s trademarked new marketing and branding strategy) wrap around columns in the open office.

Whitney Architects also wired a significant sustainability component into the new 24,000+ square foot offices, reflecting Sonoco’s strong focus on becoming a more sustainable and responsible corporate entity. Much of the paperboard used to make Sonoco’s fiber cores is from used tubes and cores recovered from customers, and is 100% recyclable (about one-third of Sonoco’s products fall into the recyclable products category). In addition, Sonoco owns 55,000 acres of forestland in the Southeast U.S. that is forest management certified to the SFI and PEFC. The company’s headquarters also runs on biomass fuel. In support of these achievements, the Sonoco iPS studio renovation project achieved LEED Cl v2009 at the Silver level.

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Packaging display wall featuring Sonoco Sonotubes®

A combination of post-occupancy survey results and positive feedback from the client indicate that Whitney Architects’ design serves its end users quite well, and this is always a great feeling. In email communication with the Whitney design team once the project was complete, Sonoco’s VP of Marketing & Innovation, Marcy Thompson, voiced the positive impacts the new space was having on both collaboration and morale.

“Each day, the café is full…and even during the day, many employees choose to work there as well as other creative space we provided,” noted Ms. Thompson. “As the saying goes, “build it, and they will come”…And, boy, are our customers coming to the iPS Studio!”