Major expansion, renovation underway at ALDI corporate campus in Batavia
A large-scale renovation and expansion of ALDI’s corporate headquarters in Batavia is underway.
Interiors of three existing office buildings on the 60-acre campus will be refurbished, in addition to the design and construction of a fourth structure. When complete, it brings the total office space on campus to about 250,000 square feet.
ALDI is one of America’s fastest-growing retailers. This expansion and renovation project is centered around operational efficiency, sustainability and employee retention. It features significant utility relocation and upgrades, innovative and sustainable design elements, and phasing to accommodate work on different buildings while the campus remains operational, according to the press release.
“We aimed to design a workplace for our employees that fosters creativity and productivity,” said Brian Holcombe, ALDI U.S. director of national services facilities. “This new building is intended to invite collaboration through its open spaces, encouraging employees to connect and work together effectively. We believe these enhanced amenities will help our team feel right at home.”
Renovation of the three existing buildings, involving nearly 200,000 square feet, will provide a more open concept design for employees with updated finishes, glass meeting rooms, energy efficient lighting, updated HVAC controls, wayfinding, digital meeting room schedulers, and audio/visual systems for collaborative meetings, the release said.
The new 56,000-square-foot building will have connectivity to the original four-story and five-story buildings. It will feature a green roof pollinator garden, fitness center, third-party food service and conference center. The structure also will be visually unique, with a two-story atrium and skylight, conversational staircase, covered patio, and courtyard with sustainable plantings and artistic facade, the release said.
A M King, a fully integrated design-build firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina with offices in Greenville, South Carolina and Chicago, is overseeing the project.
ALDI and A M King have been partners since 2004 when the firm was commissioned to build a five-story office building next to ALDI’s original building in Batavia. Again in 2009, the firm was tasked with designing and constructing a six-story building on the same campus. These two projects won three collective awards for A M King, including the Design-Build Institute of America’s Best Project, Associated Builders and Contractor’s Eagle Award, and the American Institute of Architect’s Merit Award.
Over the years, A M King has done extensive work on ALDI’s 496,000-square-foot distribution center on the campus, managed ongoing facility services, and helped with ALDI’s master planning, fueling corporate expansion to nearby Aurora and Naperville.
“ALDI commissioned A M King to manage the design and construction of this complex project due to the mutual trust and extensive knowledge of these facilities that have been established through the years,” said JD Boone, A M King business unit leader. “We also have a nearly 11-year track record of providing comprehensive, daily facility services at their campus, which has proven to be invaluable during design and construction efforts.”
It’s A M King’s fifth corporate renovation and expansion project with ALDI and will be the largest to date. The design took about two years and construction began in September 2023. Construction will take about two years to complete, Boone said.
Other firms contracting with A M King and ALDI on the project are: DAYONE, food service consultant; Eriksson Engineering Associates Ltd., civil engineer; Gensler, architect; Hitchcock Design Group, landscape architect; IMEG Corp., MEP engineer; Interior Architects, branding/signage/wayfinding; KDI Design, interior and furniture design; McCluskey Engineering Corporation, structural engineer; S20 Consultants, food service design; and Walker Consultants, parking garage design.