Case Studies

The Niagara Falls Culinary Institute is like a five-star restaurant ... where every course
matters. A place where furniture and function matter almost as much as food.
The Culinary Institute, opened in fall 2012, involves instructional space to accommodate up to 1,000 students in NCCC's culinary arts, hospitality management and tourism/event management programs, within 5‐10 years. The Institute will also involve a number of features to advance its educational mission and contribute to "place‐making" along Old Falls Street, such as ground floor, student‐operated restaurant and pastry deli facilities, a college bookstore, and a "Niagara Wine Trail" shop.

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Something interesting happened when Buffalo-based builder/developer Savarino Companies showed a property to a potential tenant: 60 days later both the client and Savarino had moved into new spaces.  Savarino's client negotiated to move into the space that Savarino occupied at the time on Mississippi Street in downtown Buffalo.  Savarino moved around the corner to their new location at 95 Perry Street.

Savarino chose MidCity to help them quickly transform their new space.  Being in the building and construction industry, Savarino envisioned creating a space that combined structural performance with style and adaptability.  MidCity worked with Sam Savarino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Savarino Companies, Savarino's Project Coordinator, Kevin Hays, and the architects to ensure the new space would not compromise on functionality or design.

"We wanted versatility in our office," says Samuel Savarino.  "MidCity had designed the office for Clark Patterson Lee, an engineering firm that is a tenant in one of our buildings.  We were impressed with the modular walls that MidCity had installed for them, and we wanted something similar."

With the move, Savarino decreased its office space by 45%, from 4500-square-feet to 2500-square-feet.  "In the old days, our project managers were stapled to their desks," recounts Samuel Savarino, "but in today's electronic age, our managers are in the field more, accessing info from the cloud.  So we need less physical office space."

MidCity designed to the space, choosing furniture that would fit the smaller space.  Allsteel Consensys workstations and modular walls were used because they provided both versatility and privacy.  Because the modular walls can be moved, Savarino also has the ability to reconfigure its space in the future.

"Having columns every nine feet, dividing the space, was a particular design challenge in this project," says Kevin Hays.  "MidCity's team overcame this challenge, giving us a fully functional space that looks great."

Samuel Savarino concurs.  He says, "I'm happy that we chose furniture that is durable, versatile, and affordable.  The modular walls add a softness to the environment.  The last thing we needed was more drywall."

When the Community Health Center of Buffalo began experiencing growing pains and eventually outgrew their 18,000 sq. ft. center at 462 Grider Street, they decided to move to a new location.  They chose MidCity to assist them in creating a space that was comfortable and inviting to the community, while still maintaining the functionality and technology of a high-quality medical care facility.

Welcome to Community Health's new 66,000 sq. ft. space, located at 34 Benwood Avenue in Buffalo.  The facility represents a $6 million investment in the community.

"We chose MidCity because they are local, and we knew that they had experience working with other healthcare organizations," states Mark Golden, Community Health's Chief Operating Officer.  "We were on a budget, and they gave us great quality design and furniture within our budget."

"Sara Gleason worked with us to develop a symbiotic relationship between what we had in terms of the existing color scheme and the new furniture," states Dr. LaVonne Ansari, CEO/Executive Director of Community Health.

As a Federally Qualified Health Center, Community Health's primary focus is to provide access to quality health care to everyone, regardless of the ability to pay.  "Because we serve the community, we had to keep running our practice while the transformation was taking place," says Ansari.  "Steve [Sommers] was phenomenal, patiently working with me and around me as I was running my practice." 

Because Community Health had gone from providing care to 6,000 patients in 2006 to serving more than 11,000 patients who had an aggregate of 40,000 visits in 2010, they needed furniture that was both practical and flexible.  "MidCity worked with us to carry out our vision of having one location where members of the community could come to have both their medical and social needs met," says Dr. Ansari.  This flexibility and functionality is reflected in the design of the furniture chosen.

"Since this is a new build, we had the opportunity to design the building with furniture in mind," states Christopher Zak, program manager for BCG. "From conceptualization, the furniture was always part of the design process." 

This allowed the interior designers and architects to build the rooms around the furniture, consulting with Kurt Amico, Katie Clark and Sara Gleason at MidCity throughout the design and construction process to ensure that everything would fit perfectly and match the interior decorating scheme. 

"This process yielded a building that both looks great and functions as envisioned," states Zak. 

MidCity helped to capture the essence of the culture at BGC in which employees work hard and play hard. For example, the furniture in the game room creates a relaxing, trendy and comfortable atmosphere whereas the furniture in the executive conference room portrays a more formal look.

"My favorite aspect of the furniture is by far the quality," states Zak. "We opted for quality furniture that will hold up over the years. The fit, finish and durability are all excellent." 

MidCity Office Furniture helped Daily Post, a video production company newly located in the 600 block of Main Street in downtown Buffalo, pay homage to the old while keeping the space new and modern.
 
"I knew what I wanted and Katie helped me to hone in on it," stated Andy Donovan, president and founder of Daily Post. "I absolutely love it, everyone that walks in the door loves it."
 
Katie Clark, CEO at MidCity Office, helped to make existing furniture from Daily Post's old office space work with the new space and furniture.

"My biggest fear was that customers would come in and say 'I really liked your old space.' Katie helped to make sure that didn't happen."

Donovan wanted to create a new vision in the move from Franklin Street to Main Street in Buffalo. He chose to work with Katie because she had seen the old space and had a good design sense and strong team behind her at MidCity.

"Andy was open-minded to any idea that I sent him," said Katie.
 
The furniture at Daily Post helps to define the creative culture of the video production business. The furniture in the space helps employees to be creative while minimalist design allows them to be productive. The editing rooms are set up in a similar style to a living room because that it where client's customers will be viewing their advertisements.  The seating in these rooms gives client's enough space to be able to work while being comfortable. The furniture, which follows a neutral palette, allowed Andy to assimilate splashes of color into the design of the rooms.
 
The client lounge, which pays homage former space occupants Big Daddy Records and OPM lounge, offers clients a space to brainstorm outside the editing rooms.

"Katie saw and understood vision and was able to deliver solid, beautiful furniture that was functional."

Wow! Our recent project from 3rd quarter of 2010 is gaining some attention. The job was chosen by Tayco, the furniture manufacturer to do a case study. Recently, Charity Vogel from The Buffalo News covered it in their 2011 Prospectus. "It's modeled on Facebook," Julia Culkin vice president of human resources at Synacor said in the article. "We're trying to bring that to Buffalo as much as we can," she said, "in terms of culture."

Check it out, and since it's modeled after facebook, we also put it in facebook.

Installed: October 2010
Products: Tayco
Lead Sensei: Kurt Amico
Photography: Nickel City Graphics
Concept: online thymes, llc

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Article in Buffalo News: http://www.buffalonews.com /business/prospectus/real- estate/article322919.ece

MidCity worked with this engineering firm to create an upscale yet flexible design for their new office space. 

Relocation of NYS OGS offices from the Donovan Building to 130,000 square feet + of office space in four locations.
 

Niagara USA chose MidCity Office Furniture to help space plan and furnish their new building to house the Visitor's Center and office space.