KANSAS CITY, MO – The Opus Group announced today the completion of construction on the new 36,000-square-foot statewide headquarters for the Kansas Leadership Center and conference center for the Kansas Health Foundation in Wichita, Kan.
The first new office building in downtown Wichita in 40 years, the facility is designed as a flexible space, fulfilling multiple functions for the organization, including hosting conferences, group meetings, lectures and trainings.
“It was enjoyable collaborating with the Kansas Leadership Center on their new headquarters,” said Oscar Healy, vice president of Opus Design Build, L.L.C. “The organization came to us with a vision of a state-of-the-art facility to support their goal of fostering civic leadership for healthier Kansas communities, and we’re proud to help KLC deliver their mission in this beautiful new building.”
Building features include a main atrium and stair in the center of the building with views into classrooms and other areas, a town hall on the first floor with seating for more than 200 participants, full catering kitchen, office space for employees, two balconies with views of downtown, and break-out areas throughout the building.
“It was important to us that we have a unique space to match our interactive teaching style,” said Ed O’Malley, president and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center. “Opus came back with a design that embraces our methodology, with spaces that foster conversations, an open design to promote transparency, and an overall warm and inviting space for our visitors.”
Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, sustainable building features include low-flow water fixtures; bike racks and showers for use by employees and visitors; reducing water use by 45 percent, including eliminating the need for potable water in landscaping; minimizing light fixtures by incorporating windows and natural light into the design; achieving a level of energy savings 23 percent better than the industry standard baseline building performance; using a minimum of 20 percent local and recycled building materials for construction; and diverting a minimum of 50 percent of construction waste from landfills through recycling.
Completed in late July, the building was designed with a third floor that could be built-out at a later date to accommodate future expansion on a site with limited space.
Opus Design Build, L.L.C. served as the design-builder on the project and Opus AE Group, Inc. was the architect and engineer of record.
About The Opus Group
The Opus Group®is a family of commercial real estate companies headquartered in Minneapolis with offices and projects across the country. Opus operates as an integrated, multidisciplinary team with expertise in development, capital markets and finance; project management and construction; architecture, engineering and interior design; sales and leasing. The Opus Group includes Opus Holding, L.L.C. and its operating subsidiaries: Opus Development Company, L.L.C., Opus Design Build, L.L.C. and Opus AE Group, L.L.C. Specializing in office, industrial, retail, institutional, residential and government projects, The Opus Group has broad capabilities, deep experience and a proven design-build model that delivers solutions for customers on time and on budget. For more information, visit www.opus-group.com.