Kahler Slater brought considerable thought leadership and knowledge about the design of corporate workplace to the design process - leveraging the research they have conducted on best practices and trends in workplace design. This added value enabled Manpower to build a headquarters that expresses their culture, supports collaboration and interaction and builds pride in the company.

Bruce D. Graham
President
Projects/Design & Construction Services - Americas
Johnson Controls

Manpower World Headquarters

A contemporary workplace that celebrates global performance

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When Manpower, Inc. moved its global headquarters from the suburbs to Milwaukee’s downtown and simultaneously updated its brand message, it recognized the opportunity to design its new dynamic, global and contemporary image. Because Manpower was bringing together three business units, each with its own very distinctive culture, the space needed to encourage collaboration and celebrate the common denominator—Manpower’s pride in its global staffing leadership.

Kahler Slater used the design process itself as a collaboration experience for Manpower when designing the interior of the new office. Employees from throughout the organization’s ranks participated in three full days of vision-setting activities.

The resulting interior gives Manpower employees and visitors a welcoming, light-filled, vibrant, contemporary environment. Because the building would be immediately filled to capacity, great attention was paid to making maximum use of space. This included deciding which departments should be located adjacent to each other, with informal collaboration and formal conference areas created in between them.

A central grand staircase in the lobby connects the two first floors, but also provides a speaking platform for the CEO to address all Manpower employees gathered together on the two open floors, a key design driver for the organization. All employees enter through a separate entrance specially equipped with a large-screen TV and banners to provide them with an upbeat, informative, unifying experience that reinforces the Manpower message daily.

The new headquarters was awarded LEED certification at the Gold level.

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Project Awards

  • "2008 Real Estate Development Showcase Urban Impact Award,” Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women’s (WCREW)Network, 2008
  • “Best New Development- Office Winner,” The Business Journal Real Estate Awards, 2008
  • LEED Gold Certified
Corporate Experiences