Ahead of the Curve: Roundstone Insurance Moves into New Headquarters in Rocky River after 20 Years of Growth

This article is originally from Properties Magazine, published December 16, 2024.

Mike Schroeder, President of Roundstone Insurance, recalls a moment more than 20 years ago when he was overseas. “When we were starting the business, we were traveling to Ireland for my mother’s birthday,” he says. “I was on a call with some folks, and somebody asks, ‘What are you going to call this company?’ I was in this really cool little town called Roundstone, just North of Galway. It sits right on the ocean and has a bunch of pubs. They make drums and go fishing. It was utopia in a lot of ways. I didn’t have an answer to the question, so I said, ‘Let’s call it Roundstone.'”

The upstart business would start small in Westlake, with an office on Detroit Road. A few years later, they moved into another office in Westlake on Clemens Road. Eventually, they moved to Lakewood to accommodate their growth.

“We were in an old historic church in Lakewood right across from the library on Detroit Road that was built in the 1920s,” says Schroeder. “Our claim to fame as a company is that we came up with a way to move middle market employers into the self-funding environment where they can control their costs a little better. We have experienced a lot of growth over the years, particularly in the last five years, and that’s what caused us to need new space.”

“We moved into the church in Lakewood in 2016 with maybe 35 employees and we moved out with 175 employees,” says Molly Schroeder, Roundstone’s Manager of Employee Recruitment and Engagement.

Employees first reported to work in the new Rocky River headquarters of Roundstone Insurance in September 2024.

Team + Timeline:

Mark Conzelmann from NewBrook Partners, the Developer of the Project, was in the process of acquiring the properties to land bank for a future development before a random conversation with Mike Schroeder lead them to teaming up to put together a plan for Roundstone’s new headquarters.

Denver Brooker, Principal, and Julie Trott, Senior Associate and Project Director, from Vocon served as the architects and The Albert M. Higley Company led by President/CEO Gareth Vaughan, was Construction Manager at Risk.

Vocon was hired in December 2022 to develop a masterplan for the site, engaged in February to design the building and had its first meeting with the City of Rocky River on March 01, 2023. Groundbreaking took place in July 2023, with construction wrapping up a mere 14 months later.

“When I tell people this was designed and built in less than a year and a half, they can’t believe it,” says Mike Schroeder.

Construction:

The Project Team gives kudos to Rocky River officials for helping to expedite the construction process.

“This Project site crosses two zoning districts. We worked closely with the planning department to develop a configuration that met the program requirements and bridged the two zoning districts in terms of height, setbacks and number of parking spaces,” explains Brooker. “The final Project required only one variance.”

The building comprises 56,700 square feet of office space with 17,000 square feet of indoor parking, which could be easily transitioned into more office space as needed in the future. There are 150 onsite parking spaces total.

“The enclosed parking designed within the building could be used for growth,” explains Trott. “The garage space was designed with real windows with an applied film so that the window that can be removed if they wanted to expand in there.”

Collaboration:

A major part of how construction crews could fast-track this Project was placing building material orders very early in the process to help avoid delays. “We worked with Vocon and their engineers to establish some stock sizes and put an order in for steel,” says Vaughan.

“Based on the tonnage and overall steel sizes, we fast-tracked the structural design of the building frame while we were still finalizing the exterior design so that we could get the steel ordered on time,” says Trott.

In addition to ordering steel ahead of time, a generator was ordered right away. The generator took about a year to be delivered.

“The collaboration was fantastic,” Brooker said of the Project Team. “That collaboration allowed for designing and executing a highly customized Project. On very fast-tracked Projects like this, it is often not possible to achieve the level of custom detail and quality of construction that occurred on this Project. Teamwork between the owner, architect, engineers, construction manager and construction subcontractors led to the excellent results here.”

“We started by fast-tracking the site and structural designs packages for permitting and bidding, and then quickly followed it with the core and shell package, all while we had barely started the interiors yet,” says Trott. “That was one of the challenges on this Project, where we were fully in design and in construction documentation and in some cases construction all at the same time. It took a lot of collaboration with Higley and Roundstone to fit all the pieces together. Working with the Higley team to find solutions to meet what Roundstone wanted to achieve with the aesthetic but meet the budget on the timeline was something unique.”

Trott also gives credit to the Thomas Brick Company for working tirelessly to provide brick options that matched the aesthetic of the Project while meeting budget constraints.

Design:

“Inspiration came from Conwan Pottery and Roundstone’s love for the Irish heritage behind the name,” says Trott. “We took those two inspirations and pulled them together to create the environment you see.”

“An art piece above the reception desk was done by a local artist that went and got the authentic colors from Conwan Pottery,” says Mike Schroeder.

Several genuine Conwan Pottery pieces are on display throughout the building, particularly in the main entryway on the ground floor. Each department in Roundstone also has what they refer to as a “front porch,” which features colorful, glossy tiles in the Conwan Pottery style that employees will be encouraged to decorate to create their own team identity.

“There was a desire from Rocky River to have a brick, more traditionally-inspired building, that benefitted the entire community,” says Brooker.

“We worked closely with the city to respond to the neighbors’ concerns, to meet Roundstone’s program needs and to be sensitive to the scale for the surrounding buildings,” Trott adds. “The site is tight. In the end, we could get the majority of all the program into the Northern site of the building, which was zoned for commercial office. The Southern part of the site was zoned for multi-family. We had a little sliver that just overlapped into multi-family, which required the variance.”

On the interior, the general design goal was all about openness. “Open, welcoming, fluid between spaces,” says Brooker. “You’ll notice a three-story staircase that is open to all floors. We were able to accomplish that and meet the building code by adding a fire curtain on the top floor. You rarely see three-story open stairs that also serve as egress. There was a desire for large windows, lots of glass and access to natural light.”

“The window design was intended to emulate older, industrial warehouses. It’s a nod towards a 19th century building,” he adds.

“It’s a modern twist to a traditional warehouse, both windows and materiality,” says Trott.

On the front of the building, the black Roundstone sign was a happy accident. It was supposed to be white, but everyone liked the black lettering and kept it as-is.

Features:

“I like open spaces, the glass and natural light,” says Mike Schroeder. “And on every floor, you can get outside. There are terraces on every floor. If somebody wants to work outside and get some fresh air, it doesn’t matter what floor they are; they can walk right outside.

On the ground floor in the rear of the property, there is a large outdoor patio with seating, nice landscaping and even a grill for company outings. Overlooking the ground floor patio is a second-story patio. The ground floor and second-story patios are South and West facing. The third-story terrace, which traverses the entire width of the building, is North-facing and even features glimpses of Lake Erie. Once the inclement weather of winter fades away, the outdoor spaces will be outfitted with more furniture.

A showstopping interior feature is the staircase in the main entryway that takes employees and guests all th way to the third floor. The natural wood steps and custom lighting fixtures create a dynamic, artistic display. Many lights, hung from the third-floor ceiling, drop down at staggered heights down the middle of the staircase. The light fixtures themselves are corrugated cardboard that create a truly unique look. At the bottom of the stairs is a river rock feature that plays on the nautical motif of Roundstone, Ireland.

Poured concrete flooring is found throughout the common areas. Carpeting was used in meeting rooms and for employee work areas. There are more than 20 conference rooms, training rooms or collaboration rooms throughout the building.

“One of our core values is ‘live well’, which means you take care of yourself so you can bring your best self to work,” Schroeder says. In the massive employee gym on the ground floor, which is stocked with fitness equipment and a golf simulator, a trainer comes three times a week and is available for private training sessions.

Additionally, staff cafes are located throughout the building on every floor. This is to encourage employees to take meals in common areas and to provide additional workspace, so people don’t feel tethered to a specific workstation. The cafes all feature a plethora of counter space, sinks, refrigerators, toasters and coffee makers.

There is also a large cafe on the ground floor, located just behind the main reception area. This borders the ground floor outdoor patio, which is readily accessible by several doors, providing employees an easy exit to exterior seating. On the far side of the cafeteria is a large staff training room that features a sliding wall, which can easily be opened to make one large, contiguous area for gatherings.

“Acoustics were a top priority,” explains Trott. “All the offices have an enhanced level of acoustical privacy, with a majority being STC 50.”

Staff even have access to a podcasting room, which features all the acoustical integrity needed to create content for the ever-popular medium. In another nod to technological advances, staff can use electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot.

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