The need to attract and retain valuable talent is universal, but in the realm of chemical and product R&D it is especially competitive. Recognizing their aging, outgrown facility was acting as a deterrent to attracting valuable talent, Wacker Chemical made the commitment to building a new R&D workplace in a highly desirable community. Wacker turned to HED to design an upscale, modern, desirable workplace that would attract top young talent and be twice as large as the original.

An engagement plan that brought together over a third of Wacker's staff highlighted the features most important to their work culture: flexibility, ergonomic workstations, and plentiful daylighting. The workplace design emphasizes a diminished sense of hierarchy in favor of a conscious dedication to team, projects, and products thinking.

The 165,000 SF building’s “extroverted design” of sweeping glass helps engage employees and visitors with the surrounding landscape and community context, creating a highly experiential and interactive environment that inspires and activates its occupants. Long north and south building faces use their ideal solar orientation to allow the building and its inner workings to open up and engage with the surrounding context with a focus on access to views, daylight, and transparency.