We’ll no longer feel like isolated departments and instead be able to work in unison. It’s a more exciting space to host client meetings, a plus for our new business efforts. It creates excitement and enthusiasm and that, combined with our new business wins, puts us in a good frame of mind to create great work for our clients.

Betsy Brown
Executive Vice President & General Manager
Cramer-Krasselt

Cramer-Krasselt

Starting a second century in a space designed for collaborative fun

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Cramer-Krasselt was celebrating its 100th anniversary as an advertising agency and also looking for a new headquarters that would express its fun, collaborative, yet sophisticated and established culture. During a Visioning Workshop facilitated by Kahler Slater, C-K’s team selected the timeless but original Noguchi table as the image that most typified the firm’s culture: playful, creative and cool, but never trendy. And they wanted a space that would do more than just express that culture. They wanted their space to actually facilitate the open, collaborative, creative workstyle.

Making this happen for C-K was made easier by them choosing a raw two-floor factory space in Milwaukee’s trendy 3rd Ward warehouse district. Kahler Slater made use of the wide open space to custom-create an interior to support the open collaboration that is core to C-K’s culture. The two floors were connected by central staircase through an opening in the lobby through to the top floor, so employees could experience the two levels as one large space. While there are a variety of collaborative spaces scattered throughout the office – each one expressing a different kind of creative style, from funky to messy to a more conventional conference area, the heart and pride of the office is the playful main meeting space.

C-K employees wanted a space that they would be proud of and “where all the kids want to play.” Client visits and gallery night open houses have become welcome opportunities to invite the world to one of their best examples of collaboration.

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