Major Office Addition Delivers Seamless Space at Journey Group

This article was originally published by Jodi Schwan of SiouxFalls.Business, along with Interstate Office Products.

As a leading construction management team, Journey Group understands the need to build with the future in mind.

And now that it’s non-field team members all are under one office roof again, it’s clear the company’s new addition happened not a moment too soon.

“Everybody is super excited about it,” said Jamison Mutschelknaus, virtual design and construction manager, who helped oversee the building project.

“It’s the first time some employees have worked in the same building because they were hired when we were forced to spread out. So it really helps the team having everyone back, and everyone loves their spaces.”

Journey’s goal with the southwest Sioux Falls headquarters expansion was to build on its successful first phase.

“We wanted to stay with the same design theme, but we were looking for even more flexibility,” Mutschelknaus said.

The company achieved that with support from interior designers Marcia Young, Abby Tufvesson and the team at Interstate Office Products, which also helped design and furnish the original building.

“We were able to replicate everything they liked from the first phase, so it looks exactly the same and seamlessly ties together with the new furniture,” Young said.

“The overriding theme with Journey is how much they care about their employees and their working conditions. They wanted teams to have dedicated office space for private conversations and a large work area where they can spread out. These are very generous workspaces, which speaks to the type of environment they want to create at work.”

In the new addition, Journey standardized its office furniture, allowing for greater future flexibility.

“With this approach, almost every office is identical – the same size and furniture – which allows us to move people around as needed,” Mutschelknaus said. “We can move you to a new office, and the only thing that changes is the view out the window.”

Journey’s offices include height-adjustable desks and storage that’s still adequate but reflects less dependence on paper and “frees it up a bit with a more open feeling,” Young said. “It’s not heavy with storage and drawers. And they really played off the corporate branding, so there are red accents throughout on the seating, and it’s carried through in the carpet. When you walk through, you definitely can tell you’re in a Journey office.”

As Journey was determining its plans, “I honestly don’t think I could have done it without Marcia and her team,” Mutschelknaus said. “They brought us layout concepts and were super responsive as we were putting things together. Just on it. We got timely quotes so we could make decisions in design.”

The furniture chosen has proven to be the right fit, he added.

“Our original office is 6 years old, and those offices look as good as new,” Mutschelknaus said. “I like the quality. I know I don’t ever have to worry about that with a Steelcase product. If we want to change an office or workstation, they can reconfigure or order parts, and we don’t have to worry about buying new again.”

Journey’s new meeting spaces also mirror the original choices from the first phase.

Both the large conference room and smaller resource rooms include flexible flip-top tables and chairs.

“You walk up one day and it’s set up in a U-shape, and the next day it’s classroom-style, and the next day tables are scattered around for small groups,” Mutschelknaus said.

The furniture “all works together,” Young added.

“It’s on brand with pops of red in the collaboration spaces and glass fronts to see in and see through, so you have light on either side, which is really nice. You walk in and you really can’t tell what’s old and new because it just is well cared for. I just can’t say enough about their team. Jamie is top notch and everyone is great to work with. We’re just happy to be partners with them and to be able to provide their office furniture solution.”

From Journey’s perspective, “I honestly wouldn’t go anywhere else,” Mutschelknaus said. “I really wouldn’t. I honestly would use Interstate Office Products for anything I possibly could. The dedication and responsiveness they have to us, the customer service, is second to none.”

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