Commitment to quality, agrarian heritage, and the connection between people and finely crafted food was an ethos the Grande Cheese Company’s leaders wished to be represented in every detail of their new home. In a unique collaboration with Overland Architects, OLIN produced an interweaving of building and landscape that enables all employees to enjoy and draw inspiration from the company’s roots and Wisconsin’s bountiful agricultural heritage. The new landscape is composed around and within the Home Office, sited to take advantage of views to the greater surrounding rural landscape and the dramatic Niagara Ledge. Employees arrive via a meandering drive to an orchard inspired parking court of Red Maples, then pass through the Four Seasons Garden to the Arrival Piazza, encountering sensory-rich plantings of vivid color and seasonal contrast. In the central courtyard, employees gather around a uniquely crafted common table to meet and share ideas throughout the day. Beyond the piazza sits the Heritage Orchard, dedicated to Grande’s founder Fillipo Candela, for which OLIN developed a program of grafting authentic Sicilian bud stock onto hardy Wisconsin rootstock. More than half of the 40-acre site is preserved for the continued development of orchards and meadows, which are experienced via winding paths for promoting exercise and contemplation. At its heart, Grande’s Home Office is a physical expression of its commitment to craft and focus on success through a better and more natural work environment.
