MINNEAPOLIS—Lindquist & Vennum, LLP, which moved into the iconic IDS Center when the property opened 43 years ago, has just extended its lease and plans to create an 81,000 square foot workplace designed to foster greater client service through increased communication, collaboration and community, according to its managing partner. In doing so, the firm will be using strategies for office design that have swept through many US office users, but that law firms have been slower to adopt.

“We are happy that we will continue to call the IDS Center Lindquist's home – we've been here since the property opened,” Dennis O'Malley, Lindquist's managing partner, tells GlobeSt.com. “I'm also proud of the new office design we're working on, which will allow us serve our clients more efficiently through new collaborative spaces, enhanced technology and a bright, clean design.”

Lindquist will relocate its roughly 300 Minneapolis attorneys and staff from 120,000 square feet on floors 40 to 44 onto floors 18 through 21, a spokesperson also tells GlobeSt.com. The move will take place in November 2016.

“With this relocation, we are re-inventing how Lindquist operates internally to make us more productive and responsive,” O'Malley adds. “The best and brightest lawyers today are attracted to agile and flexible firms that provide a stimulating legal environment and a strong work-life balance. Our new office will underscore our commitment to that concept.”

Post-modernist architect Philip Johnson designed the IDS Center with “zogs” which gave each floor 32 corner offices. O'Malley says his design, which includes floor to ceiling windows, along with some inventive space planning, means "virtually every square foot of our new office will have access to daylight.”

However, law firms do have different needs than many other users, such as the need to protect attorney-client communications, and can't fully adopt an open office plan. “Individual offices are important for privacy and uninterrupted thinking and writing,” O'Malley says. “And client and collaborative meeting places are essential to the firm's attorneys and staff.” Lindquist's new headquarters will be a place where people can meet spontaneously, interact and share ideas, either face-to-face or through technology, he adds.

Lindquist & Vennum is “known for its long-term client and employee relationships and bold yet disciplined thinking so we're looking forward to see how its new workspace will incorporate their traits and values," says Deb Kolar, general manager of IDS Center.

Brokers Brent Robertson, Jon Dahl and Sam McGuire of JLL's Minneapolis office represented IDS Center on the lease extension. Paul Donovan, Brent Erickson and Jaclyn May of Cushman Wakefield Northmarq in Minneapolis represented Lindquist.