Pizza Hut and KFC Center of Restaurant Excellence

Yum! Brands – Pizza Hut and KFC Global desired to have a corporate campus that would embody their collaborative nature, express their brand visions and provide the infrastructure for innovation. GFF Interiors was hired to help guide the transformation of their existing campus and create an environment that embodied their corporate culture. A two-phased plan was developed that doubled the existing office. Both phases created new work environments geared toward brand connectivity while increasing access to technology and functional collaborative spaces. Base elements of the design were carried throughout the building, but the strategic introduction of rich textures, comfortable furniture and unique materials helped each brand create a personalized identity.

To foster innovation, the program included a large warehouse equipped to handle three full-size restaurant mock-ups, a demonstration classroom and a 500-person multipurpose room. A prefunction area adjacent to the main lobby offers a flexible gathering area to promote global relationships and serve food from around the world. The total combined expansion provided the flexibility Yum! Brands needed to house a diverse group of brands and job functions.

GFF was selected to provide architectural services for the new Pizza Hut headquarters. The project includes a 3-story, 177,500 SF office building, a 1-story free-standing server room and a 3-story 450-car parking garage.

This headquarters for two arms of Yum! Brands is designed in pods that are sized to meet the differing needs of the two entities. The pods are joined by a shared two-story lobby that allows for monumental branding elements of both user groups. Test kitchens and mock restaurants, and all their associated
mechanical and plumbing needs have been accommodated in the design. The topography of the site and the adjacency to two lakes caused the building to be a linear configuration. In this way, the building naturally followed the contours of the land and maximized views of the building and the outdoor terraces to the lakes. The topography also allowed the parking garage to be partially below grade, which reduced its visual impact while still accomplishing natural ventilation of the structure.

The project was awarded two Green Globes under The Green Building Institute’s Green Globes rating system (roughly equivalent to LEED Silver).