Butterball’s 7,500 square-foot office in Naperville, a Chicago suburb, needed some love.

Dedicated to its purpose to “Help people pass love on,” and best known for its full line of quality turkey products and iconic Turkey Talk-line, Butterball recently turned to JDJ Architects, the landlord architect for the facility, to design an updated interior.

First, Butterball met with JDJ Principal Jim Jordan to develop and solidify the programming plan requirements for the remodeling project. Butterball then worked with PR and marketing partners to create a mood board to identify and design unifying brand elements and colors.

Next, the JDJ team, led by Director of Architecture Manish Shah, navigated the complexities of new municipal codes, analyzed and designed the space and lighting elements and provided furniture consultation services. Ashley Chavez, JDJ Interior Designer, met with the Butterball team weekly and “listened to what we wanted and made it happen,” says Pam Barnes, consumer affairs manager at Butterball.

“We had a lot of unused and underutilized space,” says Barnes. With the move of some job positions to remote work, Butterball wanted to expand the test kitchen, add a media production and staging room, update the multipurpose/training space, create a more impactful reception area and emphasize the brand look and colors.

The reception area, previously denoted simply with the Butterball name etched on the entrance door, now greets the team and visitors with an inviting seating area and the Turkey Talk-Line logo, created by Pendulum Creative (Chicago), at center stage. Down the hallway, new timeline graphics depict milestones and memories since the Turkey Talk-Line’s inception in 1981.

A key part of the renovation was the test kitchen, which is regularly used for training and the filming of Butterball turkey videos that can be viewed on the website or Butterball social media platforms. Freezers were moved, cabinets, built-in ovens and sinks were added, and lighting was upgraded. A redesigned-pantry added much-needed space for cooking essentials. With a yellow tile backsplash and blue central island providing brand identity and pops of color, the JDJ design team was able to delineate three separate areas of the test kitchen to serve as backdrops for Butterball videos and also for local and national TV features. To that end, an adjacent “blue room,” featuring graphics depicting humorous Turkey Talk-Line questions, now serves as a staging room for media segments.

The Turkey Talk-Line call center, reorganized and brightened with a wall of brilliant graphics, created by a local muralist, Liz Flores/@Lizitto, incorporating brand colors and logo elements, anchors the central call center space. The space hosts the Turkey Talk-Line experts, including chefs, dieticians, professors and food scientists, with an average of 14 years of experience, who answer consumer questions about turkey preparation and cooking and are on site from 6 am to 6 pm CST on Thanksgiving Day. “We want to take the stress out of Thanksgiving Day. At Butterball, we help people pass love on by showing them how easy it really can be to prepare and serve a delicious Thanksgiving turkey,” says Barnes.

An improved training/multipurpose area, a new, inviting break room for staff and additional storage completed the renovation.

The office renovation was revealed at an open house that brought considerable media attention from Chicago TV stations. “Bottom line: our office is bright, it’s inspiring and we love the brand elements,” says Barnes. “The JDJ team went above and beyond for us.”