Illuminas enjoys its bright remodel in Barton Creek business park

Page Principal Wendy Dunnam Tita was recently lauded for her design for a market research firm office space. Austin Business Journal commented on the appealing factors of this new building.

Illuminas, a market research firm, recently put the finishing touches on its expanded office space at 3601 S. Capital of Texas Highway.

“We deserve a nice space,” said Jay Shutter, managing director of Illuminas, which is based in Austin and also has offices in London. “Our old space was dark. There was no lunch room, no good conference room or reception area.”

With help from Dunnam Tita Architecture + Interiors, Illuminas has created a 7,200-square-foot space that’s contemporary, appealing and brings the lush green in from the outside. And they did it on a tight budget, though the exact costs were not disclosed.

Illuminas currently has a staff of 25 full-time workers with plans to grow by a couple of more positions in the next couple of months. There are aspirations for even more growth beyond that.

The company, which organizes and runs focus groups along with other market research for companies across the world, has its roots in Cunningham Communications, the once-prominent Silicon Valley public relations firm that handled Apple Inc. Founded by tech darling Andrea Cunningham, the company opened a branch in Austin in the late 1990s. She eventually sold the firm and the Austin office was closed.

Early on, however, Shutter was hired to create the research arm of the company. It eventually was spun off as Illuminas.

Shutter has chartered the choppy waters of boom and bust in the research business. Currently it’s full speed ahead.

The company has been based at 3601 S. Capital of Texas Highway on the west side since its inception, though the size of the space has expanded and contracted in sync with the city’s economic heartbeat.

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