Formed in 1998, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is a leading milk marketing cooperative that has grown to serve and empower more than 14,500 dairy farmer members nationwide. With this growth came the need for a new space to house its Kansas City headquarters. DFA prides itself on being member-focused, smart, responsive, forward-thinking, and reliable. For their new office, DFA staff wanted to create a modern, interactive, and collaborative environment that would help build these points of pride into their culture, bringing them to life for current employees and job seekers, alike. This meant leaving their leased Kansas City, Missouri property, crossing the river, and constructing a brand new threestory, 110,000-square-foot building in Kansas City, Kansas. And of course, this impressive, state-of-the-art facility needed employee amenities, flexible workspaces, and unique furnishings to match.
Kansas City, Kansas
Dairy Farmer Cooperative Building Stories: 3 Building Size: 110,000 sq. ft. Occupants: 400+
HOK
encompas
Resources
Objective
DFA leadership wanted their new headquarters to be reflective of a modern work environment and what today’s employees want from their workplace. They created about 15 different engagement committees, providing all employees the opportunity to participate in research, discussions, and recommendations for the new office. Each committee had a unique focus, concentrating on topics such as branding, workstations, alternative workspaces, collaboration, meeting areas, and outdoor spaces, as well as amenities like the fitness center and café. The committees generated ideas to bring the space to life in a way that actually supported DFA’s forwardthinking, community-oriented culture, rather than working against it.
"We wanted to make sure we focused on creating a more collaborative, more inclusive environment that facilitated unintentional, as well as intentional, interaction among colleagues. And that’s proven to be the case."
General Counsel and Senior VP
Solution
Set on the new headquarters reflecting their forward-thinking culture, DFA leadership treated the project as a long-term investment. They intended the space to have the ability to evolve and change to meet their organizational needs for the next 40 years—and still have the look, feel, and function of a modern office.
With input from the people who use them, DFA’s new workstations were designed with the total employee experience in mind.
The benching system with lower wall panels allows team members easy access to one another, while offering just enough of a perceived barrier to provide personal space. Workstations have multifunctional pedestal storage units that double as temporary seating for people dropping by for those quick questions or impromptu conversations. Pull-out pantries provide added privacy, access to power for charging mobile devices, as well as display and storage for personal items. Ergonomic seating, height-adjustable desks, and accessories, such as monitor arms for their new dualmonitor setup, allow for more user control and personalization for a variety of workstyles.
DFA has strong ties to the dairy farming families it serve, so leadership and employees wanted to honor them in the office design. The branding engagement committee concluded that office design should reflect the entire scope of DFA—from farms and milk production, to plants and processing facilities, to the dairy products people around the world use every day.
The Milk Bar is another fun dairy-themed feature of the new building. This space embraces DFA’s culture and showcases the base of its business.
“This project, which more than I ever expected, is a beacon, and it stands proud both from the exterior and the interior. It reflects the perspective that [DFA] very much wanted and articulated many, many, many years ago. To see the joy of the people working here, and realize that this is, for us as a design firm, a result that can translate the bricks and mortar into something of great purpose and value. It’s super exciting.”
Principal at HOK
DFA set out to create a new, engaging headquarters space that supported employees in their jobs and as people—a place they really wanted to work, and where they could do their best work. “What we were really looking for was to move far away from that traditional office space, and move into a space where collaboration and a heartbeat center of the building was evident when you came in,” said Monica Massey, DFA Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff.
Even the individual workstations are bringing people together by making it easier for them to communicate and get work done. Collaboration and communication just started happening naturally. There is still space for employees to do focus work, but the new workstations are also helping with workflow and productivity. “Things that used to take a lot of time to do just fall away,” said Brehm. “Now you can easily take a look around and folks are right there. It’s just really easy to get a lot of quick stuff done, in a fast way.”
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is a leading milk marketing cooperative and dairy food processor that serves and is owned by over 14,500 members nationwide. It was established in 1998 to unite smaller regional cooperatives and help farm families survive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. This combined cooperative offers programs and services that make it easier and more profitable for members to farm. Today, DFA has become one of the country’s most diversified manufacturers of dairy products, food components, and ingredients, providing dairy products for purchase by families around the world.