Boehringer Ingelheim (Roxane Labs)
New Learning and Development Center offers “all the latest bells and whistles”
Despite operating in a modern, 800,000 square-foot manufacturing, laboratory and office facility in Columbus, Ohio, Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) lacked adequate and appropriately placed space for its employee training and development programs. To solve the problem, the firm decided to renovate an efficient, easily-accessible space in its main building to house the new training facilities.
“Chip and his team are very knowledgeable and knew what we needed. Our Learning and Development Center is a technology showplace because of their work.”
First Step: engage an experienced team
“Hiring great contractors from day one made this project run smoothly. You can’t beat experience, creativity, and reliability, and that’s what our team brought to the table,” explained Edward Kubiak, Project Manager for BI’s Capital Projects Division.
The new Learning and Development Center, designed by architectural firm BHDP, offers a classroom area, storage, a library, cubicles, a kitchen, a sound room, and a self-contained conference room they call the “egg” due to its unique shape and purpose as a place where new thoughts and innovation can be hatched.
The project’s general contractor, Turner Construction, recommended that BI hire Integrated Building Systems to design and install the technology systems.
“We wanted IBS to give our new training space all the latest bells and whistles—projectors, screens, video, sound, and lighting,” Kubiak said. “With these tools, we could offer top-notch training programs, record them, and even create our own in-house training DVDs for our 7-day, 3-shifts-a-day work force.”
plan technology at the design phase
Integrated Building Systems joined BI’s project at the design phase—the ideal and most cost-effective time for technology planning, according to President Chip Chapman. “When we’re involved from the beginning, we can make sure the infrastructure is right the first time, and that it will support the client’s current and future needs.”
To bring the room to life, Integrated Building Systems installed two ceiling-mounted projectors/recorders, video screens, and low-voltage cabling that feeds all the data into a separate sound room. The firm custom-designed a mobile podium to house a computer, pull-out keyboard, and microphones that control the room.
Integrated Building Systems also installed desktop computers in flip-top kiosks, pop-up Ethernet and power plugs in the 3” thick conference table, and connectivity for classroom laptops to give on-site staff easy access to information.
“Chip and his team are very knowledgeable and knew what we needed,” Kubiak said. “Our Learning and Development Center is a technology showplace because of their work.”
Often in a renovation, Integrated Building Systems works through existing floors and ceilings to connect technology systems. At BI, however, the second-floor Learning and Development Center sat atop a locker room whose ceiling wouldn’t allow access to the Center’s floor. Integrated Building Systems solved the problem by recommending a four-inch raised floor system in the training room to allow space to install electrical and data connections.