Monthly Archives: January 2022

Moving has a way of teaching you to take stock. It forces you to consider what is worth keeping, what needs to be thrown away, and what needs replacing. Taking stock is common for many businesses moving into new office space. They realize some items will not work in a new work environment and others are best new.

However, the company interested in saving money will do well to bring their higher quality, functional furniture with them. When this is the case, it pays to hire an expert commercial installer to reconfigure the furniture for their new space.

Why Reconfigure?

Reconfiguring furniture saves money and makes furniture work in your new space. If your furniture is in good shape, bringing it to a new space is like giving it a second life. Any time you can reuse items, that is money in your pocket.

But why not just set things up exactly how they used to be? There are three main reasons reconfiguring furniture is best. First, moving into a new space sometimes requires working with items the last tenants left behind.

A great example of this situation is OEC’s client, Boise Hunter Homes (BHH), moving into an office with existing privacy wall. In this space, all the offices hugged the perimeter of the building, separated from the interior by tall, glass privacy walls. The glass walls allowed natural light into the core of the building while providing privacy for each office.

BHH loved the space and wanted to keep the privacy walls, but they needed to make changes to fit their company. OEC had installed the original privacy wall, so they could reconfigure some panels to reshape and even add offices. Reconfiguration allowed BHH to transform its office with minimal downtime or cost.

Why Space Planning Is Vital In Reconfiguration

Second, a new space entails a different flow. Your furniture should complement the architecture of the new space and help support your company’s culture. Doing this right requires experts in space planning and design.

OEC’s design team works with each client to learn their vision for the space and their pain points. Then they can fix those pain points by correctly positioning the existing furniture in the space. They also account for power accessibility, safety requirements, and sound management. Successfully implementing a reconfiguration is impossible if you don’t have an experienced designer working through these logistics.

Reconfiguring Without The Move

Finally, not all companies that reconfigure their space are moving. Boise State University is one such example of reconfiguring existing space. BSU needed a workstation, and they decided to add it to a pre-existing station.

OEC’s reconfiguration service team built the station using existing wall panels and a few new joining parts. By working with the OEC design team, the installers know which pieces to use, where to put them, and which new items to add. It made for a smooth installation that allowed BSU to make more of its existing space.

Whether moving or staying put, reconfiguration allows you to reuse existing furniture to reimagine your space.

See Boise Hunter Homes project today!

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How often do we walk into work and take for granted that the lights are on, the heat is up, and that thing that falls under no one’s specific jurisdiction has been taken care of? If it hasn’t crossed your mind before, that is because your facilities team has already thought of it. Join two exceptional facilities managers as they share what it is like to look at buildings through a facilities lens.

Yorick de Tassigny has been the Building Planning and Maintenance Manager at City of Boise for four years. He and his team of fourteen support at least thirty buildings, including City Hall West and public safety facilities.

Do you ever have a typical day?

“It is different all the time. That is the beauty of facilities. We have a robust preventive maintenance program that is routine work, but otherwise, different needs and repairs can pop up.”

What are some new challenges you are facing?

“Dealing with the growth of Boise has been a significant challenge. We have outdated furniture systems, and with limited budgets, we are trying to be more efficient with our existing space and replace what we can.”

What are some changes you have seen happening in your facilities?

“Asking ‘Do you feel safe in your building?’ has forced us to look at how we think about the physical space. That led us to hybrid work. From a facility standpoint, we are hoping this will help solve our space limitations. Meanwhile, we are
piloting some projects with different seating elements and workstations to see what will work for other projects.”

What are some things you hope to change in the future?

“I have always been interested in having blank floors and using modular furniture or offices. Some rooms can move around, are cozy, and very quiet. I would like to introduce more of those elements into the workplace.”

What is your favorite part of your job?

“I like the planning aspect of it. Looking at our buildings and finding ways to make them more efficient and build automation is really fun. We also collect data in our operations, like energy data, work orders, or labor hours, to make data-driven decisions.”

Rob Womble is the Regional Manager for the Operations, Divisions, Facilities Department at Power Engineers. He directly manages twenty-four individuals on three separate teams maintaining fifty-five offices around the U.S. and Canada. One of the teams designs and implements new locations and expansions.

Do you ever have a typical day?

“No, I get phone calls at three in the morning that a door isn’t secure. We get involved in natural disasters dealing with locals, contractors, or insurance companies. There is hardly ever a typical day, and I think that has drawn my employees to work here.”

What are some new challenges you are facing?

“Prior to COVID, our biggest challenge was keeping up with our own internal growth. We have been expanding and taking on new locations, and trying to do that with a small crew is hard.”

What are some changes you have seen happening in your facilities?

“I have been here for fifteen years. Something that has changed in my role is the effort and drive behind sustainability. We have always been involved in our communities and recycling. Two of our buildings operate with solar power. We are working more towards documenting to understand our impact on the
environment and how to mitigate that. We truly believe in being responsible and are proud of that effort.”

What are some things you hope to change in the future?

“We are looking at the future through the lens of the employee experience, and that is exciting for me. Our employees can work from home or in the office, so we are trying to utilize space to draw them into the office.”

What is your favorite part of your job?

“The people I manage are absolutely phenomenal. I would put them up against anybody anywhere at any time, and they would blow the other folks out of the water. Beyond that, I have been very fortunate when it comes to the people who managed me in my career. I have never worked for a company that puts as much focus on the employee to develop their career and support them.”

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HUB International refreshes their Boise building by the Train Depot

In 2013, locally owned and operated insurance firm Premier Insurance was at a crossroads. There were a lot of changes happening in the healthcare world, and the successful firm knew they needed help providing their clients with the resources they deserved. So, they brought their four Idaho locations to the table to be acquired by Chicago-based insurance company HUB International. Since then, the newly minted Boise HUB office has doubled its staff from twenty-two employees to forty-five and is still growing. To accommodate this expansion, the company has completely redesigned the second floor of their two-story building on Rose Hill St., next to the Boise Train Depot.

The Second Story Renovation

HUB Commercial Broker and Regional Sales Lead Matt Azevedo has played a significant role in the second-story renovation. As manager of the Boise office, he knows how important it is to breathe new life into the previously outdated space. “Not too many exciting things happen in an insurance office, so the change has been fun. We have employees who have been here for fifteen plus years, and maybe never moved chairs within the office. We felt they should have first option to move upstairs. Every one of them took it.” The renovation is excellent not only for its view of Boise’s iconic Train Depot but also for its plethora of natural light and great flow.

HUB Culture

While getting into the space has felt like an eternity, it is already making a positive difference in the culture. “We stayed home for COVID and then were forced to be apart for a remodel, and that doesn’t help our culture and what we are trying to build here in the Boise office. This building is new, it’s fresh, it’s vibrant, and that makes us excited to come back.”

Working With OEC

What took Matt by surprise was the size of the OEC team it took to install everything. “Initially, I couldn’t believe there were twelve guys here installing. You just don’t realize the sheer amount of furniture that it takes to furnish a building of this size. Overall, they were extremely professional, and our Project Manager [Riley Weber] was very thorough. I appreciated that because we are all super busy this time of year, but I could tell that he really cared about the quality of the work he was doing.”

Seeing People Around The Office

Matt’s favorite part of the new office is how easy it is to connect with coworkers, especially after so much time in isolation. “No matter where you are in the new space, you see people. I feel like over the last year we have lost some of the continuity that comes along with simply seeing people and the expressions on their faces, their smiles. Around this office, you can always see people, so I’m excited about the fluidity of the building.

Coming Back To Work

As they settle into their new space, HUB Boise is looking forward to growth and is excited about the productivity that returning to the office will bring them. “We want to keep our clients happy while
getting into the groove of coming back to work.”

See the full album today!

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