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Zurich North America Headquarters

New Zurich North America Headquarters Reflects Bright Future

As a global leader in managing risk, Zurich Insurance is renewing our commitment to the North American marketplace and has opened our new headquarters building in Schaumburg, Illinois – a northwest suburb of Chicago. The 783,000 square foot corporate campus is located at the corner of Meacham Road and Interstate 90, on 40 acres of beautiful, native landscape.   The building has been awarded the highly respected LEED Platinum®1 Certified designation for its environmental design and sustainability initiatives.

Zurich has offices around the globe, but in North America, Illinois has always been our home. We’ve been here for more than 100 years and generate nearly $1.3 billion in economic impact annually for the state2, while providing thousands of jobs in the Chicago area.
We are proud that our new corporate campus has significant benefits for the economy, the environment and our employees.

Zurich North America CEO Mike Foley takes you inside the new building

This building is a showcase of all we are at Zurich: its excellence in design, its focus on sustainability, and its reflection of our employees.  Our new headquarters building embodies a new chapter for our organization and our recommitment to the North American market as part of our broader, global business plan.  We see a bright future for our customers, shareholders and employees.

Mike Foley, Chief Executive Officer Zurich North America

International presence, Illinois impact

Zurich has offices around the globe, but in North America, Illinois has been our home for more than 100 years. We provide thousands of jobs in the Chicago area.

We are proud that our new corporate campus has significant benefits for the economy, the environment and our employees.

Economy

Zurich is a significant contributor to the economy and values our role as an employer and taxpaying corporation.

  • Zurich insures 90% of Fortune 500 companies, nearly all of which have a global presence3.
  • The company and its peers in the insurance industry contributed $1.1 billion in tax revenue and $306 billion in investments to the Illinois economy in 20154. 
  • The new headquarters construction project is one of the largest build-to-lease projects in the country5, providing economic benefits in Illinois including more than 825 jobs.
  • Zurich provides approximately $1.3 billion in economic impact to the Illinois economy annually, according to a recent University of Illinois study.

Environment

The new headquarters building reflects our commitment to the environment, and has earned the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum® certified rating – the highest rating – from the U.S. Green Building Council®.  The building features include:

  • Curtain wall system designed to maximize natural light
  • System to provide high-quality indoor air
  • Access to public transportation and accommodations for electric and low-emitting vehicles
  • Incorporation of multiple “green” roof space, totaling more than one acre
  • Landscaping with 637 trees and more than 13 acres of native savannah plantings, walking paths and water features, rainwater harvest and re-use
  • Efforts to reduce energy and water use
  • Recycling and reduction of waste during construction process; efforts to utilize locally-sourced building materials

Employees

Zurich takes pride in being a great place to work and our new headquarters reflects that view. Employees participated in the crowdsourcing of ideas to create a work environment that allows them to best serve our customers. The result is a corporate campus that enhances communication, collaboration and wellness. A number of the employee ideas incorporated into the new building are also being implemented in other Zurich offices around the United States. 

  • Zurich designated 180 employees to be Change Champions and advocate for the positive transition to the new building.
  • Employees indicated a preference for an environment filled with natural light, collaborative spaces and sit/stand desks for everyone during the planning stage for the new building.
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Zurich would like to thank the following lead contributors to the headquarters construction project

Clayco
Clayco is a full-service, turnkey real estate development, master planning, architecture, engineering and construction firm that delivers clients around the world the highest quality solutions on time, on budget, and above and beyond expectations. With $1.35 billion in revenue for 2015, Clayco specializes in the “art and science of building,” providing fast track, efficient solutions globally for commercial, institutional, industrial and heavy civil infrastructure related building projects. 

Goettsch Partners
Goettsch Partners (GP) is an architecture firm with a global perspective. Based in Chicago, with additional offices in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi, the firm brings a singular approach to design that combines seasoned experience with a passion for exploration and innovation. Completed projects span five continents and represent a diverse range of types and sizes. Every project design begins with multiple concepts that are evaluated for intrinsic value, constructability and environmental impact. GP projects share a consistent visual language of bold clarity that celebrates highly crafted technical solutions delivering optimal performance. 

Cannon Design
CannonDesign is an integrated global design firm that unites a dynamic team of architects, engineers, strategists, futurists, researchers and industry specialists driven by a singular goal — to help solve its clients’ and society’s greatest challenges. Its more than 900 employees in 16 offices around the world partner with clients across a multitude of industries, including healthcare, education, science + technology, corporate/commercial, civic and sports.

Hoerr Schaudt
Hoerr Schaudt is a team of landscape architects, urban planners, and horticulturists who craft innovative outdoor spaces that delight on every scale. Our hands-on approach to design and attention to detail help our clients discover the unseen potential of their site. Our spaces are designed to delight the people who work there and experience them each day, season after season. Our corporate clients are leaders in their industries and rely on our ability to design spaces that articulate the mission, values, and brand of their workplaces. We create landscapes with character that is supported and maintained by champions long after the project is finished. Our designs range from urban rooftops to suburban campuses and contribute to employee productivity and health and enhance a company’s image. Our team combines dimensional thinkers with innovative horticultural experts to produce corporate designs that are delightful at first glance and grow richer every season. Each of our designs evolves from the space itself, the surrounding architecture, and the people invested in making it great.

JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. A Fortune 500 company with annual fee revenue of $5.2 billion and gross revenue of $6.0 billion, JLL has more than 280 corporate offices, operates in more than 80 countries and has a global workforce of more than 60,000. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services for a property portfolio of 4.0 billion square feet, or 372 million square meters, and completed $138 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2015. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $58.3 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated.   

1 LEED Platinum® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Green Building Council®. 

2 Source: Regional Economics Applications Laboratory Institute of Government and Public Affairs University of Illinois, June 2013.

3 Information valid as of September 2016

4 Source: http://www.ibamag.com/news/midwest-news/insurance-industry-provides-1-1bn-in-tax-revenue-nearly-145k-jobs-in-midwest-state-31024.aspx

5 https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/office/10-largest-office-projects-expected-to-deliver-in-2016-53751#0