Engineered to Last

Blending Local Flair, Henny Penny Flavor, and Modern Spice

Henny Penny’s new tech-focused satellite office is located in the Manhattan Building in downtown Dayton, Ohio. Much like this legacy foodservice brand, the Manhattan Building carries an incredible history, but is currently transforming into a modern and stylish home for tech companies and defense contractors. Henny Penny wanted a crisp spin on its brand that reflected the forward-looking feel of the location and the work that would be done here, without abandoning the brand that’s well-known in commercial kitchens around the world.

The Ohlmann Group’s creative team started the project with Henny Penny’s needs in mind. We were tasked with establishing a site name and identity that would embrace the future, honor the company’s reputation, and tie in the incredible history of the location itself. The Henny Penny downtown hub is located just blocks away from a unique geographic and historical feature of the Dayton region: the confluence of five rivers in the heart of downtown. The Ohlmann Group creative team saw a connection between this junction and Henny Penny’s latest work site. Like the five rivers, this is the central place where people come together, where ideas flow, and where deeper connections are made.

From this association, the name Henny Penny Five Rivers Campus was born. The shorthand HP5R was proposed as a modern and abbreviated alternative to the full name when appropriate.

A Brand With Bite

Once a site name was chosen, The Ohlmann Group got to work ideating a brand mark that would reflect the thought behind the site identity. The objectives for a campus logo were much the same as the goals set forth when creating a name and identity for the site, create a modern spin on the current Henny Penny brand markers, while also incorporating the new campus individuality.

The Ohlmann Group designers created a logo that incorporated bold, curved lines to graphically represent the five rivers of the Miami Valley. The river lines in the logo form an abstract version of the state of Ohio, and radiate from the southwest corner of the state, where Dayton is located. The curved shapes and modern design compliment the current Henny Penny brand while also creating a unique and ownable sub-brand for the Dayton campus.

Fire Up Some Flavor at HP5R

What’s a modern new campus without some personality? Henny Penny wanted the downtown Dayton space to tell its own story, with reflections of the company culture, the city’s unique history, and reinforcements of the new campus name, look and feel. Working with a local architectural and design firm, The Ohlmann Group’s designers identified the perfect places within the space to create interior architectural details that tie in the brand.

A striking piece of foam wall art with the HP5R moniker greets visitors when they walk in the door, setting expectations for a bright, fresh space. This piece serves as both a design accent and needed sound abatement. Farther inside, a photo collage reflects the importance of Henny Penny’s employee-owners. Throughout the space, bold, flowing lines in frosted glass strengthen the campus tie to the rivers’ convergence.

The new Henny Penny campus in the Manhattan Building brought with it a history of its own. The space previously served as the home of a wholesale grocery. Leftover from that era was an industrial scale that was likely used to weigh grain and other commodities. The Ohlmann Group team renovated the historical piece and created signage to tell its story – honoring the past while innovating for the future.

Not Just a Flash in the Pan. Henny Penny is Engineered to Last.

The Henny Penny Five Rivers Campus environmental design project is one example of the growing partnership between Henny Penny and The Ohlmann Group. From website design to virtual tours, The Ohlmann Group has helped the Henny Penny brand continue to bring the heat to the fast-paced foodservice industry.