When United Dairymen of Arizona, the largest dairy cooperative in the state, purchased a new building at the start of the Broadway Innovation Hub in Tempe our studio was tasked with framing a new vision for their workplace environment as they transitioned into the office 2.0.

A staple in the dairy industry of Arizona for the last 60+ years, UDA has established a strong reputation for serving the needs of it’s members, customers and community by selling and advocating dairy products around the world. Prior to the purchase of the building at 404 West Broadway each of the co-op’s business units was spread among multiple buildings across the sprawling campus. After completing in-depth interviews with each of the department heads we were able to develop a critical adjacencies diagram to distribute the units efficiently according to their unique needs.

The final layout for the new office space on the first floor required the demolishing of the entire existing layout and only retaining the original location of the restrooms, elevator and service kitchen. One of our goals was to create a diversity of meeting spaces, collaborative zones and amenities for employees to be able to extend their work day on site.

The opportunity to reframe the reception area of the new building provided architectural designer Jacob Gulinson, Assoc. AIA, an opportunity to explore developing a warm, honest material palette that harkens to UDA’s connection to the agricultural industry. We worked to expose the original concrete slab to create a juxtaposition with the custom book-matched solid surface entry desk. The linear lighting fixtures work to create a sense of natural movement from the entry point towards the reception and terminate the eye into the the back-lit metal UDA logo floating on a blackened steel backdrop that is highlighted by RBW‘s elegant pendant fixtures.

UDA was looking to move forward into a new workplace culture by creating an open office seating arrangement that allowed C-suite executives, middle management and entry level support staff to work more collaboratively. Our team worked intimately with the Haworth representative to layout the most flexible and effective sit-stand desk option. To tie back to UDA’s branding we used an RBW ‘Latis’ linear that would connect to the blue color used in their brand.

In the effort of connecting the front entry walnut vertical slat wall, our team carried that into the common coffee bar / break spaces as a way to providing warmth in the central corridor access areas. Introducing the distinguished walnut supported continuing the use of the blackened steel as a liner in these space creates a stately backdrop for appliances and intimate break areas to enjoy a cup of coffee.

The communal meeting spaces were tied into the central service spaces by the introduction of the vertical walnut open slat feature. These vertical elements provide an opportunity for visual privacy while team members meet to have conferences and access the necessary audio visual support for teleconference calls or presentations.

Finally, the reason why United Dairymen of Arizona exist, to support the local Arizona dairy farms required a space where the farmer co-op members could meet for monthly meetings. This large conference room provided the opportunity with additional bench seating on the periphery to adjust for larger groups with plenty of state of the art technology for these lengthy meetings. To support this longer duration, we designed and detailed a hidden walnut flush slab passthrough serving window that would allow for catering services to setup the food and beverage during the meeting and open to access the full spread at the appropriate time.