Barnes & Thornburg

Barnes & Thornburg is a full-service business law firm, providing legal advice and services for many different industries. Founded on unwavering quality, their growth has been built on a strong work ethic and spirit of entrepreneurism. Their philosophy has always been to grow not just for growth’s sake, but to add lawyers to their team who can provide value-driven solutions to clients.

Barnes & Thornburg has been purchasing Kimball International solutions for over 20 years and has a great relationship with their Dealer partner, AMO, who handles the account exclusively across the country. They appreciate the partnership and the quality of furniture that Kimball International has delivered time and time again, so when their new South Bend, Indiana, office needed to be designed, they turned to Kimball International once again. 

The Kimball International team worked closely with AMO and the design firm, Lehner Design, to understand the challenges the Barnes & Thornburg team was experiencing with their current office layout. They were looking for ergonomic solutions, including the ability to stand, but also keep a nice, clean, high-end office aesthetic. In previous locations, employees were given a choice of one height adjustable surface–either a desk or return.

The Kimball International By Design team and engineers developed a custom, L-shaped, dual height adjustable desk layout with great cable management. The Barnes & Thornburg design team visited the Kimball International Headquarters in Jasper, Indiana, to review the mock-up and make any necessary changes before the first product order. This special design is now the standard for Barnes & Thornburg locations, moving forward.

Ted Boersma, Chief of Real Estate Operations at Barnes & Thornburg stated, “I was impressed by the dual height adjust solution and just used that in five new locations before we even installed in South Bend.” The new Priority height adjustable desks provided them with a private office set up that meets the flexibility and function they desired with a modern-day aesthetic, bringing a timeless appeal to the executive space. The Narrate and Footprint workstations complemented this layout by offering a streamlined framework that allowed Barnes & Thornburg to maximize flexibility without compromising their high-end design. In total, there are 46 Priority wood private offices and a dozen Narrate workstations.