Ferrara Candy Company HQ Relocation, Chicago, IL

Ferrara Candy has moved home. In November 2019, they were one of the first tenants in the newly remodeled Chicago Old Post Office. Founded in 1908, the makers of SweeTarts, LaffyTaffy and Lemonhead are now two miles away from their birthplace.

Syska Hennessy provided MEP, fire protection, structured cabling, audiovisual, security, and architectural lighting for the interior fit-out of 76,559 rentable square feet to accommodate approximately 400 people. Goals for the new headquarters space included: open floorplan, more collaborative meeting and conference spaces, unique solutions to showcase their 35 brands, and to honor the historical characteristics of the 1921 building. The Old Post Office building posed numerous challenges in completing the design of the Ferrara space. The floor plan had a very high structural of 18’-6” and many of the spaces have exposed structure. This required extensive coordination with the design team on duct work routing, conduit placement and cable tray to consolidate all low voltage wiring.

Also, the Landmark Building requirements had many strict requirements on MEP equipment placement that needed diligent coordination and equipment selection. Due to the success of this project, Ferrara has decided to expand even further into the Old Post Office and capture an additional 38,000 square feet. We have completed the design of this additional space and it is currently under design. The Old Post Office’s unique characteristics made the design of the Ferrara space very challenging. In addition, the base building MEP systems were being completely replaced and most of this replacement work was occurring during our design. Our office needed to work extensively with the base building design and construction team to ensure our office reflected the correct existing conditions.