WORKPLACEelevations

2016 Review

For DLR Group’s Workplace Studio, it’s been a year of evolution. We launched Workplace Elevated™, our workplace strategy program. Workplace Elevated™ is a people-driven, data-backed design program that resolves industry needs for increased employee satisfaction and decreased commercial real estate costs and footprints. The other big news at DLR Group was the acquisition and merger of Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL) into the firm. This event, coupled with strong organic growth, added a DLR Group presence in Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, and New York. Additionally, our Pasadena and Santa Monica offices joined forces in a downtown Los Angeles location. The result of this smart growth is the addition of over 200 design professionals, to total over 1,000 employee owners, positioned to better serve our national enterprise clients across the country. Our designers and engineers evolved what innovation means, achieving many

“firsts.” These firsts include the first mass-timber high-rise in the U.S. in over 100 years, and the first LEED Platinum (Core Shell and Interiors) project for the world’s leading technology company. And, we continue to invest in technology that allows the best ideas and lessons learned, generated in any DLR Group global office, to be shared and leveraged across the group and with our clients. Some of these ideas - or Insights - are featured here, along with selected projects that highlight moments where we achieved or exceeded he goals of our clients. All of this is driven by our singular focus of providing clients and employees with Workplaces that Work™. Our evolution mirrors the evolving state of the workplace. Generational and functional dynamics are quickly shifting and underscore the need for evidence-based design. Many of our progressive clients are vital parts of this new landscape, with challenging programs that influence their CRE portfolios. Together, we’re seeking holistic, humanist solutions to today’s concerns. We look forward to continuing to evolve toward that reality with you: our clients, partners, and friends.

- Angela Castleton Global Workplace Leader

Welcome

Steve Cavanaugh, AIA, LEED AP Chicago | Principal

Filo Castore, AIA, LEED AP Houston | Principal

Jeremy Reding, AIA, LEED AP Seattle | Principal

Tim Cowell Los Angeles

Melissa Spearman, LEED AP BD+C Omaha | Senior Associate

Mike Fant, AIA Cleveland | Senior Associate

Cassandra Griep, CID, IIDA Minneapolis | Senior Associate

Tim Thielke Phoenix | Associate

Gretchen Wahab, NCIDQ, LEED AP Los Angeles | Principal

Mark Ludtka Seattle | 　Principal

Workplace Leadership

By promoting designs that facilitate the interaction between human beings, we can move away from simply minimizing the effect of our building construction industry toward maximizing the human potential. Click below to watch his video.

byFilo Castore, AIA, LEED AP

The Human ElementTaking the meaning of “sustainability” to the next level.

Insights in Workplace

UX in the WorkplaceBlending public and private life.

“You want a place where people can really feel like they’re doing their best work.” Jeremy Reding discusses how design can take lessons from diverse types of environments to improve the user experience of the workplace. Click above to watch his video.

byJeremy Reding, AIA, LEED AP

DESIGN

Global real estate leader Hines has recognized that the wants and needs of contemporary, technology-rich workers are shifting the way we think about workplace design. The firm connected with DLR Group’s designers to explore these shifts and conceptualize a project responding to growing cultural demand for local authenticity, sustainability, and urban and social connectivity. The result is the T3 concept: timber, transit, and technology. Designed in partnership with Michael Green Architecture, T3’s use of wood columns, beams, and floor joists make it unique, the first major multi-story U.S. office building to be built of wood in the past 100 years.

Hines T3

2016

Minneapolis, Minn.

Timber, Transit, TechnologyTraditional materials meet modern amenities.

T3 Photography by Ema Peter | MGA | Michael Green Architecture

A Unified HeadquartersColocation for communication and efficiency.

To increase operational efficiency and support future growth, Xcel Energy Headquarters sought to unify its downtown Minneapolis headquarters which operate out of two adjacent buildings. DLR Group’s design solves the challenge of joining multiple business units with a connective skyway over Nicollet Mall. The circulation that occurs around this main artery between the two buildings is taken advantage of with a cluster of “third-place” work areas and employee amenities - a sort of campus commons. The second level’s open lounge features the best view in the house - reflecting Xcel’s shift from focusing on the workstation as the primary place to get work done.

Xcel Energy Headquarters

DESIGN2016

Minneapolis, Minn.

Insights in Workplace

It’s Time to Agilify the OfficeGive individuals the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

These days, engagement is what motivates employees, not perks: meaningful work, continued learning, career opportunities. Welcome Agile, a burgeoning management approach that’s also a timely development considering that Agile’s fundamental principles resonate with millennials, the largest demographic in the U.S. workforce.

byAmy Hoffman, IIDA

Whether it’s a huddle room, a pod, or a nook for private conversation, a variety of spaces for teammates to connect face-to-face and still access all of the digital tools that power the modern office is paramount to the success of being Agile. The days of massive, tech-heavy conference rooms are at an end.

That said, there is still a need for one place the entire office can gather. “Big Room” planning is a fundamental Agile step, ensuring that everyone hears company goals clearly and firsthand. Ideally, such an all-hands meeting would occur at a minimum of every month. Dunbar’s number theorizes that 130 is the ideal group number for building and maintaining relationships; some agile organizations try to cap locations around that number.

Daily scrums are opportunities for a team to gather and maintain an ongoing dialog, a time when updates are given and goals reassessed. This could be a fundamental aspect

of the team’s workspace or an immediately adjacent breakout space. Optimum Group Size Theory promotes 5-7 people per team for optimal speed, communication, and commitment.

Providing a physical space that each team can manipulate to best fit its needs is essential. The cubicle grid is dead: now it’s about movable desks, tables, and whiteboards, a variety of furniture types, and flexibility. Customization creates a sense of ownership in workers. Developing a set of standardized options allow employee choice, but manages chaos and Facilities’ headaches. This flexibility helps tackle the Allen Curve, which demonstrates a breakdown in technical communication with increased physical separation.

The old office space was about rigidity and order, a C-level imposition of control. Agile puts trust at the center of things, which is clear from the points above. When a workplace gives people and teams the freedom to use space in ways that are best for them to operate, that’s a fundamental reflection of management that believes in its employees.

Amy Hoffman is an interior designer focused on creating custom workplace environments.

Decentralize Technology

One Big Room

Scrum Space

Trust

Kit of Parts

But Agile isn’t simply about processes and org charts: It’s also about physical space. A core principal of an Agile approach is to build projects around motivated individuals in an environment to support their needs and let them get the job done. “That’s not “environment” in a metaphorical sense, but a very real one: the workplace. So how do you “agilify” an office? Here are five ways, tied to key Agile principles.

Holistically IntegratedPartnership achieves lofty, common goals.

As Google grew – both in size and maturity – it embarked on the creation of its second largest new building in the world, an addition to the Kirkland campus. Washington’s status as the third most active state in the nation drove a key design goal helping employees feel connected to the environment , the region, the community, and to their own health and well-being while working in an expansive 90,000 SF floorplate. The client and developer, along with DLR Group’s integrated team of architects, engineers, and interior designers, and a committed contractor, all worked together to push their respective levels of comfort and achieve a landmark result.

Google Kirkland

DESIGN2016

Kirkland, Wash.

Holistically Integrated

The interior is organized around biophilia inspired neighborhoods. Echoing the regional ecosystem,

neighborhoods including Mountain, Meadow, and Sound, each have distinctive identities

and landmarks.

The exterior blends with the existing campus buildings, while offering new amenities to the City of Kirkland. The former brownfield site now boasts a linear public park, spanned by an overhead bridge that connects to Phase I of the campus. Green roofs and water catchment are just a few sustainable design and engineering features of this LEED Platinum facility. These features save energy and operation costs, but more importantly, were selected based on their impact on occupant well-being.

How can you and your employees get engaged in a Workplace that Works™? Gretchen Wahab shares how Workplace Elevated™, DLR Group’s workplace strategy program, focuses on employee experience to create evidence-based, high-performance workplaces.

byGretchen Wahab, NCIDQ, LEED AP

Workplace that Works™

Uniting people and place to drive performance.

Insights in Workplace

DESIGN

Rapidly expanding financial technology company Blackline Systems wanted a dynamic new home to reflect its open culture and support future growth in the greater Los Angeles area. After analyzing three sites and facilitating an immersive set of creative visioning meetings, DLR Group adapted the current location to reflect the culture of blackline Systems. A central stair, dubbed the Heart, spills our into the Recharge Zone, an amenity-rich space modeled after hospitality lounges. From here, functional space radiates, including a 120 person training room and open office desking.

BlackLine Systems

2016

Burbank, Calif.

The Heart of CultureStylish social spaces create a community for tech company.

Octagon | Connecticut & North Carolina locations Octagon, the world’s largest sports agency, is relocating its headquarters from Norwalk to Stamford, Conn. A significant employee and leadership survey revealed insights about the culture and future of the brand, influencing the design. Group, Loop, and Gather are the primary organizing factors, with custom touches highlighting the Octagon brand woven throughout. DLR Group is simultaneously renovating Octagon’s Charlotte location.

La Vista City Centre | La Vista, Neb.Placemaking of the highest order is the mandate at La Vista City Centre. An underperforming shopping center is reenvisioned as a vibrant downtown for a community without a defined city center. A new “main street,” multi-modal connectivity, and the thoughtful blend of uses and scales will enliven this 613,000 SF project.

CA Technologies | Santa Clara, Calif.When 75 percent of a company’s employees elect to work from home but the company’s mission is to eliminate barriers between ideas and business outcomes, design can be a tool that inspires culture shift. At CA Technologies Santa Clara office, a collaborative, amenity-rich design with an all-staff hub that brings all 450 employees together in one room will inspire a movement back into the office to get valuable collaborative work done.

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55% HVAC specific energy

savings & 100% filteredoutside air

Energy + Engineering Solutions

Do more with less Enhance building performance to lower operating costs. Improve indoor environmental quality to increase productivity.

39% LIGHTINGspecific energy

savings

DLR Group believes all spaces should be sustainably designed, high performance buildings. Our focus is to reduce energy use through design and improve building performance, and then incorporate renewable systems to produce energy on site.

The Kirkland Campus expansion for a Google is focused on environmental stewardship and human well-being to achieve a high-performance building. To support these design goals, DLR Group used innovative systems to leverage the facility type and high plug loads to keep energy impact low. Not only is this new space LEED Platinum, the design is having a significant impact on user experience and maximizing operational savings.

Solar is not the only opportunity to reduce your operational expenses. DLR Group’s full suite of engineering experts provide design, commissioning, and energy efficiency services for the complete life cycle of your building.

75% WATERsavings with a

200,000 gallon cistern

30% ENERGY reduction with

real-time monitoring& data collection

“Best of the Best Green Building of the Year – ENR 2016”

2016@DLR Group

DLR Group celebrated its 50th birthday on April 1, 2016. During the year, each office hosted an open house for local clients, partners, and alumni. Each office also closed for a day of service. In total, DLR Group employee-owners donated more than 6,000 hours to their local communities.

DLR Group expanded its geographic reach in 2016. The firm opened international offices in Dubai and Nairobi, a new office in Houston, and consolidated our Santa Monica and Pasadena locations in a new downtown Los Angeles office.

On September 20, DLR Group CEO Griff Davenport announced the acquisition of Westlake Reed Leskosky. ARCHITECT Magazine’s #1 ranked firm in 2014, and #2 in 2016, WRL brings market leading Performing Arts, Museum, and Healthcare practices and adds depth to the integrated services of DLR Group.

Practicing as DLR Group|Westlake Reed Leskosky in Arizona, Ohio, and the Northeast; as DLR Group|Sorg|Westlake Reed Leskosky in Washington, D.C.; and as DLR Group across the U.S. and around the globe, more than 1,000 design professionals stand ready to provide you with an unmatched depth of integrated design services and focused market expertise.

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T3 Photography by Ema Peter | MGA | Michael Green Architecture