Chicago, IL

Mesirow Financial Headquarters

Architect

Interior Architects

General Contractor

Power Construction

Project Duration

18 months

Engineer

Environmental Systems Design, Inc.

Electrical Contractor

Gibson Electric

View looking inside of a high-rise floor from the exterior

Value Delivered

State-of-the-art energy infrastructure; support for critical global operations; enhanced client satisfaction and loyalty; reduced energy consumption and costs; greater employee safety, security, and productivity; reliable backup power; attainment of prestigious "green building" certifications; single-source contractor efficiencies and accountability.

Client Objectives

To install modern, energy-efficient electrical systems in its new, 12-story, 286,000-sf headquarters facility.

Solutions

Gibson Electric's reliability, extensive resources, and broad expertise made it this client's contractor of choice for installing all electrical systems at its new headquarters. Planning and coordinating its work with other contractors, Gibson carried out a scope of work that began with bringing power from the local utility to the company's offices, conference rooms, and auditorium.

Gibson crews also installed the cabling for the company's telephone communications system and data center, as well as the two uninterruptible power supplies that provide the data center's back-up power. In addition, Gibson ran cabling for the rest of Mesirow's computer system. This cabling allows up to 10 gigabytes of data transmission at each workstation.

Since the building was pre-certified as a LEED silver facility by the U.S. Green Building Council, the client also asked Gibson to install an advanced daylight harvesting system to help reduce energy consumption and attain final certification.

The system includes sensors that detect the level of natural light coming through the building's floor-to-ceiling windows and automatically regulates the electric lighting to provide optimum illumination throughout the day.

Employee well-being and safety are key priorities at Mesirow, which is why the company entrusted Gibson with the task of putting in a sophisticated fire alarm system. The Gibson team installed all the necessary sensors and controls, extending the building's base fire alarm/life safety system to cover Mesirow's floors.

Client Background

Mesirow Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1937 as a one-man brokerage firm, it now has more than 1,200 employees located in offices across the country and in London. One of its real estate projects was the 45-story, 1.2-million-square-foot downtown office tower where the firm has its 12-story headquarters and leases the remaining space to other companies.