People often assume that he who has the largest workspace is the one who is the smartest and most important to the success of a business.  However, he, or she, does not necessarily hold exclusive rights to that title.

When it comes to brains, one need look no further then the dedicated computer room and server area to grasp the magnitude of information and processes of the "occupant" of this room. And if "he" has an off day, other processes can grind to a near standstill.  So, without further adieu, I present to you the most important office in our new building.

And when it comes to a warm and inviting environment for employees and clients to gather, share ideas and corroborate there's no better place then a warm, well lit, and well planned area that includes soft seating, work areas, access to huge amount of information, and a bistro to boot.

The below image shows how we are developing our  library which will include areas for product catalogs and our sample finishes and fabrics, seating areas, tables, and access to the kitchen (background).  Its shape, the descending height of its perimeter walls and the suspended lighting fixtures around and bordering the curved walls give a warm invite to our employees and clients.

perspective                                          close-up of lighting                 

Move date is approaching

And what a showpiece it will be.

Here you can see the near completion of the façade of the building - The left image shows the completed addition while the right image shows the addition in the foreground and the main entrance in the background, though this image does not clearly show the total width of the building at 400 feet.

 

The interior is shaping up as well.  Two of the focal points are taking shape, namely the unique wall constructed out of re-purposed wood pallets, which will also serve as the backdrop for our reception area, and the radius wall (background) of descending height that will form the borders of our library.

 

Great progress has been made over the past few weeks including framing of offices, insulating critical areas including some interior walls, and drywall/painting of the first of many offices.  Open spaces have been designed, furniture ordered, and plans are moving foward for a june/july occupancy.

We started using the warehouse to serve as our premier distribution center. Meanwhile, multiple trades are working simultaneously including HVAC, landscaping, plumbing, and finishing. On the outside of the building the grounds are being cleaned up and graded; the exterior of the building is being finalized.  Within the next couple weeks, ceilings will be suspended where applicable, fixtures will be installed, and the original solid wood doors, which were saved during the initial de-construction, will be re-hung.



I saw 3 different trades at work this morning, including HVAC, framing and drywall, and electrical.  The image below shows ductwork beginning to be installed in the 30,000 square foot showroom & conferencing center.  Other areas of the building are also having ductwork installed and eventually this will be all tied together into a well planned HVAC system.

 

Framing of some of the private offices has also begun.  At the accelerated pace that has been occuring, these private offices should be wired and drywalled within a short period of time.

 

  Other areas of the building will also show significant advancment over the next few weeks.  In fact, the NW corner of offices is  the location of the first drywall that has been hung. 

message from Ron Hux:

In December we started on the interior build-out of our offices. Since December we’ve made significant progress on the infrastructure including welding new roof trusses where HVAC units will be sitting, installing a new roof on the showroom area to meet LEED requirements and placing sky lights and a new roof structure in a small area in the showroom. I made a decision early on not to use the existing plumbing so all new pipes had to be put in the floors. In addition, we removed a block wall to expand the accounting area and installed the fire sprinkler system.

 

interior views highlighting build-out and the glass enclosures of our 4000 sq. ft. addition

With all this behind us now, the crews are concentrating on framing and building out the space. We expect this to progress rapidly.  By mid-March framing should be complete and drywall should begin to be hung.

 

left to right: the delivery of drywall has begun, new roof trusses, interior view looking northeast

 

Finishing the year strong

Years ago I used to participate in long distance running races and olympic distance triathlon's.  My training regiments included "track work-outs" with like minded individuals.  I'll always remember the coach would bark out commands offer encouragement as we crossed the finish line on every distance set. " Finish strong. Don't slow down. Run all the way through the finishline."

Well, here we find ourselves at the end of 2012 and we have multiple crews working hard.  One crew works at finishing off the main entrance (left) while another crew works at setting the side entrance (right).  Simultaneously, window and door frames are being added to the addition.

Hard and persistent work does lead to noticeable progress. Commenting on my running days: after each set, we'd get 15 seconds rest and do it all over again.  It amounted to quite a workout during that 1 hour and in the end we all turned out better, stronger and faster.  Not surprisingly, one of the participants was a part of the 2000 summer Olympics team.

Beginning in the new year, these crews will continue to work hard on this 2nd phase of our project.  Follow our progress regularly as we share stories on the transformation of this once aged building into our new corporate campus with state of the art features, a beautiful showroom and designer center, LEED certification, and  more.

Building Progression

 

Significant advances have been made in the past five weeks.  The addition that will house part of our design and sales team now has a roof.  The floor is currently being prepared with sufficient subflooring and the installation in floor level electrical and data conduit, thereby avoiding having to use floor to ceiling power poles. 

  What is not seen is that we have begun using parts of the 60,000 square foot warehouse to manage the distribution of large projects and to begin storing product that will eventually become part of our showroom and offices. 

These are exciting times.  Multiple trades are working simultaneously. One such example is that the window and glass company has carefully measured each window and installed energy efficient glass in all window openings - which will serve as another contributing factor in our planned LEED certification.