Located on the Madison isthmus with picturesque views of Lake Mendota and the Wisconsin State Capitol, NGL’s headquarters have been in a prime location since the building was constructed in 1964. Although NGL has had a few building locations around the downtown Madison community since the company was established in 1909, the building located at 2 E. Gilman is where NGL has grown and looks to remain for many years to come.

When the pandemic swept across the world in March of 2020, the majority of NGL’s workforce moved to a remote environment. Trying to find a silver lining in a nearly empty building, it was determined to be an ideal time to remodel the space.

Focus on employees

The goal of the building remodel project was to create a more modern, open, collaborative space for everyone who utilizes the building. The design encourages employees to find unique spaces to work that fit their needs throughout the day.

Additional transformational changes were made to better impact our employee work environment:

• Reimagined the overall space, a total of seven floors, to better utilize it for employees allowing for more engagement and collaboration for both in-person and remote team members.
• Made overall improvements to the building by focusing on employee needs and well-being through working to obtain our WELL Building Standard Silver Certification. There are eight areas that WELL building standards require, including air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, mind and innovation.
• Invest in the newest audio/visual technology throughout the building to provide a collaborative environment built with a flexible workforce in mind. Understanding that there will be employees in the office and virtual, the cameras, microphones and speakers are scaled to match the room size and furniture layout of each space to maximize the user experience.
• Add and enhance safety features throughout the building, including the addition of a sprinkler system, reconfigure stairwell entry and exit points, install new emergency fire doors, as well as additional safety features on each floor. 

Focus on community

Taking pride on being an inclusive, collaborative member of our Madison-community, we made several intentional enhancements to the building to create a space for everyone in our community.

• Installation of a two-story custom stone art piece focused on our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion as an integral part of our mission, vision and values. We want everyone to bring their full, authentic selves to work each day because they feel comfortable, accepted and valued for their unique life experiences and viewpoints. Click here to read more about the art installation and click here to watch a video about it.
• Converting the first floor into a community meeting/event space. There are conference rooms and open space that will be available to host community events.
• Offering tenant space in the building to occupy at least two floors. The fourth and fifth floors of the building have been remodeled to essentially be a blank slate for companies interested in renting the space. This will allow the leasing companies to make a space that best meets their unique needs.

Focus on sustainability

With a shift and greater awareness to be more environmentally friendly and efficient, we have:

• Replaced the exterior glass windows. The new window system is more energy efficient and easier to maintain. In order to preserve the original architectural design (and as requested by the Madison Historical Society) the new windows look nearly identical to the ones that were previously on the building.  
• The building has all new energy efficient lighting and mechanicals to help reduce greenhouse gases.
• Designed the floor plans with one copy/print center to reduce the amount of paper needed and help focus on digitizing incoming/outgoing work processes.
• Reduced our footprint within the building. By offering a hybrid work environment we are giving employees an option of where they will work best, remote or at the office, which eliminates the need to occupy and maintain six floors.

The newly remodeled building strengthens our roots in the community and encourages a culture shift as we revitalize our company with a focus on our employees, the insurance industry and the community. We look forward to innovating, evolving and welcoming everyone to our new space as we build a strong, exciting future.