Eli Lilly

Corporate Headquarters

Indianapolis, IN

Global pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company had finished its 250,000-square-foot Corporate Center, its gateway to extensive research and administrative campus. But one thing remained: the need for a lobby worthy of Lilly’s legacy and impact on humanity.

An aggressive nine-month schedule for the project demanded a design/build approach and a unique partnership. Designer HOK translated Lilly’s core values into complex, multilayered storylines expressed in three physical components – Life, Science, and Horizons – and relied on Xibitz to transform these abstract concepts into reality while meeting financial, brand development and scheduling goals.

Solutions include a 3,000-pound molecular ring that appears to “float” in the air; a Science Wall reflecting the convergent disciplines that intertwine in pharmaceutical research and development; and a 16-foot-tall mother and child sculpture, flanked by curved reading tables that explain its meaning to the Lilly story.