Wow! It feels great to be settled into our new space in the Menomonee Valley, surrounded by innovative and enterprising businesses. It has been a long couple of months to get to this point, but well worth it. There's a lot of excitement in the building. I think everyone feels really invigorated to be in a place we can finally call our own.
Plum Media's new headquarters was really designed with all of us mind, from our welcoming reception area to the Great Hall where we gather to brainstorm video concepts and live events. On the second floor you'll find our state-of-the art studio, a control room, and Plum's team of producers. Ultimately, the decision to renovate building was to create a purpose-built space, ideal for video production and event development.
Plum Media partnered with Plunkett Rasich Architects for the initial design work and then collaberated with Design 2 Construct to complete the design work and the construction. Our project superintendent, Sean McLaren came in and just owned the project. He internalized everything we wanted to do and made it his. So everyone who worked on the job knew exactly what the vision was.
"When I'm on site and I'm in charge of the job I feel as if I'm the caretaker for the owner. I want the owner to get exactly what he was envisioning so that when we're done, everybody is happy." - Sean McLaren, Design 2 Construct
The ultimate goal in the reconstruction project of our 1920s building was to keep the classic characteristics intact, but still make it functional for us. The Neo-classic cream city brick didn't disappoint. My favorite part of this project early-on was going through and seeing all the great historial stuff that was in the building I knew we could repurpose.
All the old doors, many featuring leaded glass were refurbished and brought back to life as sliding barn doors. Original brass hardware has been put to good use as coat hooks in our offices.
Repurposed wood that once collected dust as base boards has been transformed into a feature wall welcoming visitors as they walk through the door. The wood shelves throughtout the building were unearthed from beneath the floors of Plum's new lobby. At 2 inches thick, they were part of an array of pipes and railroad tracks, and an onsite kiln operation.
In keeping with the Gatsby-like era in which the building was built, most of the second-floor ceiling is constructed in the style known as groin vaults. Stairwells with mission-style balusters get Plum's creatives from the second floor to the first where you might find our staff in the kitchen's vault, grabbing snacks or supplies.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with Design 2 Construct's work. Plum Media has a home that meets our many needs as a dynamic media production company. We have a purpose-built space that inspires creativity so the Plum team can continue creating memorable videos and staging stunning visuals at live events. Our clients will also appreciate the space we carved out for them.
Come see what everyone at Plum Media is talking about!
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- Plum Media named 2017 best place to work by Milwaukee Business Journal