The new McDonald’s Corporation global headquarters sits on the former site of Harpo Studios in the West Loop. The ground-up, 550,000 square foot, nine-story building was a build-to-suit collaboration between Sterling Bay and McDonald’s. The building was designed by Gensler Architects and the interiors by IA Interior Architects. It features retail along Randolph Street including the popular headquarters restaurant a global menu.

Cyclone Energy Group was integral in the sustainable design and turn-over of the new HQ building, proving almost every service we offer to the development. At the onset of the conceptual design, Cyclone created an energy model advising the designers on benefits of engineering and architectural elements. Our engineers designed a measurement and verification system allowing the building engineers the ability to monitor energy use and make adjustments to optimize performance.

With three construction teams working simultaneously on the core and shell, interior build-out and restaurant areas, the project was a logistical challenge to meet the highly aggressive schedule. Our commissioning group worked closely with all three teams to keep the project moving smoothly and get systems online and functioning per design. Cyclone orchestrated a black-out test of mission critical systems proving function of IT systems during a loss of power situation. Cyclone worked with the construction team and life-safety consultants with testing the complicated atrium smoke exhaust system. For the new headquarters restaurant, Cyclone provided consulting for the LEED’s most stringent rating system,Version 4.