Epstein's Top 100 Projects: #34: Serta International Center

Our award-winning design of the Serta International Center comes in at no. 34 in our Top 100 Projects countdown.

For Serta, Epstein provided full architectural and interior design services as well as civil, MEP and structural engineering for their corporate headquarters located within Hoffman Estates' Prairie Stone Development. The program for this project consisted of 60,000 square feet of office, showroom, and presentation areas plus a 20,000 square foot research and development center, and a 10,000-square-foot basement for a total of 90,000 square feet.

The 17-acre parcel Prairie Stone site is part of an environmentally sensitive business park. The site is directly adjacent to a protected wetlands area which serves as an integral part of the storm water management system and as a result the building was designed to take advantage of the site allowing all work areas to have vistas to the outdoors. The net effect of the composition is a building elevated in a sea of green prairie grass reinforcing the notion of environmental sustainability and echoing the lines of the prairie landscape.

The architectural massing of the building was developed to express the two main programmatic functions: research and development and office work space. The office work space is contained in the linear “bar” structure which parallels the property line of the site, opening to the wetlands. This allows natural light and equal visual access to the wetlands for all workers in the building. The structure containing the R&D facility and is designed to engage the “bar” structure at the programmatic center of the building. Located at the heart of the building are the public spaces such as showrooms, lunch room, and training Auditorium.

The second level opens onto an outdoor deck area covered by a sunshade canopy which has been designed as an extension of the R&D roof structure. The canopy is articulated as a pattern which will reflect Serta’s interest in textures and fabrics. The curtainwall glass perimeter is shaded by horizontal louvers.

Our design for this project has received a number of prestigious design awards including a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, the highest honor the AIA can bestow on a project.