CORT, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, recently partnered with Carleton College to renovate two student common areas at the university, replacing outdated pieces with high quality, yet affordable and sustainable, furnishings. Carleton College chose furniture rental from CORT after determining it was the best opportunity to achieve their vision for the common areas while saving time and resources.
The common areas at Carleton College are utilized by students to study, hold club meetings and participate in social activities. These areas are also showcased to prospective students and parents during campus tours. After surveying campus organizations and students that frequented the common areas, Carleton College determined the existing setup was outdated and limited student productivity, and recognized the need for a redesigned environment.
Working with CORT, Carleton College replaced the existing furniture with fresh and modern furnishings and accessories to create a collaborative environment to enhance productivity and creative thinking for students, while also providing a new level of comfort and convenience to the space.
“After meeting with our students, we knew that we needed to incorporate comfortable, high-end furnishings to our common areas that were specifically designed to enhance student productivity and collaboration,” said Patti Sabrowski, custodial services manager at Carleton College. “CORT came to us with an affordable, simple solution that has completely reinvented these spaces and has truly excited our student body that use these common areas.”
The project, from initial conception and conversation with Carleton College through the selection of furniture and delivery, took only a few months to complete and was quickly embraced by the students. In total, CORT added approximately 50 pieces of furniture to the common areas, including 16 sofas, multiple reclining lounge chairs and standing study and gathering tables to encourage creativity for projects. Carleton College was also able to uphold their commitment to sustainability by working with CORT to ensure the old furniture would be repurposed rather than letting the furniture end up in a landfill.
“Carleton College came to us with a need to bring new life to an outdated study space, which is a problem many colleges around the nation are dealing with,” said Mark Koepsell, executive vice president of business development for CORT. “After meeting with Carleton and discussing their vision for the common areas, we were able to find the perfect solution to meet their budget and the needs of the student body.”
Carleton College chose furniture rental to save time and resources that would not have been possible otherwise. Through CORT’s setup and delivery services, Carleton College did not have to allot internal custodial and maintenance resources towards installing the furniture. Additionally, furniture rental allowed Carleton the flexibility to repurpose the areas as needed, also eliminating the need to allocate storage space for excess furniture inventory.
Through its academics, history and sustainability initiatives, Carleton College is an esteemed college that students, faculty and the community are proud of. By working with CORT, academic institutions like Carleton College can provide quality furnishing options to transform campus facilities.
About CORT:
CORT, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, is the nation’s leading provider of transition services, including furniture rental for home and office, event furnishings, destination services, apartment locating, touring and other services. With more than 100 offices, showrooms and clearance centers across the United States, operations in the United Kingdom and partners in more than 80 countries, no other furniture rental company can match CORT’s breadth of services and companywide commitment to providing excellent customer service. For more information, please visit www.cort.com.
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