by Heather Livingston
Contributing Editor

Summary: Mortgage Lenders Network (MLN), a rapidly growing finance company specializing in non-conforming mortgages, has begun construction on a 305,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Wallingford, Conn. Designed by Integrated Architecture, with interiors by Gensler, the new showcase headquarters is the result of MLN’s effort to consolidate three locations under one roof. Reflecting their dedication to providing their employees a healthful work environment, the headquarters building is being constructed to LEED™ Core and Shell certification. Says Linda Jacobs, senior project manager with Gensler, MLN’s new building was designed to “meet the needs of their people right on the facility grounds.” In addition, the company is using the opportunity to show American homeowners how they can use healthy building materials in their own homes by constructing a “Founder’s Cottage” that demonstrates current environmental technology.

Spearheading the project is innovative developer Workstage LLC, with Gensler collaborating to implement functional office layouts that improve workflow and productivity. The interior design will provide an ergonomic work setting, maximizing natural daylight with an abundance of glass for a light, airy feeling, and offering sweeping views of the 109-acre campus, two-thirds of which will be preserved as open space.

Meeting needs on-site
“MLN is looking to attract the best people and retain them for as long as possible, so we are incorporating a lot of features into the interior architecture that give it a campus feeling,” says Jacobs. The new two-story building will offer employees an on-site fitness center and exterior grounds athletic activities. The outdoor areas were designed to encourage informal gatherings and appreciation of the landscape and will include a large back porch, outdoor seating, and a campfire pit and barbecue. There will be a cafeteria and Starbuck’s café, and the client is exploring having on-site dry cleaning and a concierge service that would provide employees the opportunity to order take-home meals at night and offer services such as flower delivery for Mother’s Day. Jacobs continues, “The idea is that, while there is quite a bit of commercial development in this area, if possible, MLN wants to meet the needs of their people right on the facility grounds.”

U.S. employees concerned with healthy workplace
During the design phase, MLN commissioned a poll to determine if they were on the right track in planning for the new headquarters building. The poll underscored their assumptions that employees concerns were about much more than money. According to the poll, 94 percent of Americans prefer to work in a building that is designed to be energy efficient and ecologically sound. To that end, the design team is incorporating people-centered thinking into the design of MLN’s headquarters, which will consume less power and provide healthier indoor air for its employees and a flexible infrastructure to support the company’s rapid growth. The building will incorporate sustainable materials.

According to the poll, 94 percent of Americans prefer to work in a building that is designed to be energy efficient and ecologically sound

Notes Mike Corby, AIA, principal at Integrated Architecture, “LEED certification starts with the site: how we laid out the site and the plantings, how we’re directing groundwater flow, and so forth. It then moves into the building in terms of material selection: how we actually [construct] the building, how we’re bringing light into the building, how we’re taking advantage of the light, and the building systems. One of the Workstage underpinnings is the sustainability aspect of their buildings, so that started with incorporating under-floor air and access to natural light. It’s really a comprehensive approach.”

According to Jim Smith, senior director of real estate and facilities for MLN, their green building strategy is about more than just keeping employees happy and healthy. “MLN is looking beyond the common benefits of green buildings—employee retention, fewer illnesses, and increased productivity—and seeking to influence employees and customers to live and build green in order to increase environmental sustainability,” said Smith. “Energy independence is the first step toward financial independence. A greater reliance on sustainable resources will help pave the way.” To further that goal, MLN is lobbying the state to create a future rail station within five minutes of the building and is planning on introducing hydrogen or electric buses to shuttle employees back and forth.

Smith says the company began planning its new facility about three years ago. At that time, MLN had approximately 800 employees scattered throughout Connecticut and other states. They quickly determined that they needed to consolidate their Connecticut locations under one roof while also providing space and infrastructure for future growth. Today, MLN employs about 1,700 people and expects to double that number by 2008. The new Wallingford facility will hold approximately half of their projected total staff.

Model of green technology
MLN also commissioned Centerbrook to design its Founder’s Cottage at the site. The 5,000-square-foot visitor and conference center was designed to look like a typical New England farmhouse, yet features state-of-the-art sustainable technology. Intended to be a model for how the American home can use green technology, the Founder’s Cottage will be used as a demonstration on how to reduce homeowners’ costs and energy dependency. According to Centerbrook Partner Bill Grover, FAIA, “the idea was to create a net-zero-energy house, producing as much as energy as it uses.”

The U-shaped building has two wings off the back and an adjacent barn. The cottage has two distinct personalities: the south side of the house showcases Modern design and technology and features an extensive glass façade and photovoltaic solar collectors. The north side is reminiscent of a traditional Connecticut clapboard farmhouse, with the interior set up similarly to a standard single-family home. The ground floor contains a living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, and an outdoor south-facing terrace. On the second floor are three bedrooms and a library. Where the structure differs from the typical single-family home is the basement, which features a 20-person movie theater and a glass ceiling/ground level floor that brings natural light in from the outdoors.

“It’s not costing us more to do some really cool stuff in a really great place.”

Highlights of the cottage’s sustainable elements include shingles made from recycled car tires, cement-board exterior siding, and a feature that MLN’s Smith calls the “science fiction” area, which will include ground-source pumps and passive solar heating. When the Founder’s Cottage and headquarters building are complete, “it’s going to be a cool place, and not just to work. I think it really is the wave of the future and the big thing that I’d like to stress is that it’s not costing us more to do some really cool stuff in a really great place. When it’s all done, it’s going to be a pretty exciting place,” he concludes.