Technology & Space Planning at SEA’s HQ
Author
Scott Griggs
Often, we think that a blank canvas offers the most opportunities, and while this may be true, in many ways it can complicate a project. Creativity comes out of constraints. When all things are conceivably possible, how then do we choose which to include? This is how we began to consider the redevelopment of SEA’s headquarters in terms of technology incorporation. As part of SEA’s leadership team and Director of IT my role was embedded within the HQ project team in multiple ways. SEA understood that with the level of renovation that our office would undergo–where essentially no wall was left unopened, and an entirely new three-story building would be added on–we had a chance to aim high and customize the building’s technology to fit our needs.
When the project kicked off in 2018, I dove in. Prior to working with architects, I had taken for granted the complexity in space planning and have come to appreciate the art and skill that is practiced in this discipline. I witnessed firsthand my colleagues’ ability to envision a 2-D drawing in 3-D, thinking through anticipated space usage scenarios and abstractions like feel and flow. How technology is integrated into a space affects how that space is experienced–an ill-placed speaker, camera, or Smart Board in a conference room could have ripple effects. While technology is a seemingly small aspect within the overall design, we understand that if a conference room is not optimized, staff will be less likely to use it. This means that while one conference room sits empty, another that has a stronger design may be booked all day, pushing out meetings for everyone. Our team worked hard to think through these small but important details.
How technology is integrated into a space affects how that space is experienced–an ill-placed speaker, camera, or Smart Board in a conference room could have ripple effects.
Balancing Competing Needs
Like any other professional service, architectural projects are significantly more complicated when you are your own client–when there are bumps in the road, unforeseen or otherwise, you can only turn to yourself for answers. In our HQ design, the many competing needs and the layering of factors quickly became apparent. One example that sticks in my mind is the need for vertical surfaces to support screens and pinup, versus the desire to have as many windows as possible to flood the space with natural light; what is the appropriate balance?
Thankfully, SEA’s architects are adept at finding order in chaos. When I asked a coworker if she had any trade secrets for managing these complexities, she suggested trying a matrix–one of many tools of the trade–and this method helped immensely. Wading through the competing needs and wants was our first step in prioritizing. On one axis I listed 28 technological amenities, like touchscreens and projectors, and plotted 13 different activity types, like work sessions and guest presentations, on the other. On one of the spectrums, we identified intimate 1-2 person meetings, and at the other end we listed company-wide townhall gatherings. This matrix helped clarify the amenities we could not live without. From there, we mapped them into the spaces, making sure we had cable pathways, floor drops, and blocking in the walls where needed to optimize the design. We partnered with a local A/V Integrator, Diversified, who helped make it a reality.
Matrix showing the many competing A/V needs at SEA HQ. Amenities were narrowed down based on importance and then mapped into areas as determined by space planning.
Shifting to Work from Home
As the project progressed, our understanding of modern office needs was upended as the global pandemic shifted how work is performed and how collaboration occurs. Like many in my field, we refocused our attention to helping staff move to remote work from home. We rolled out dozens of laptops, deployed remote access systems for everyone, and supported folks as they implemented their own custom setups in bedrooms, dining rooms, and kitchens. Bandwidth limitations and “lag storms” required constant attention as our internet carrier struggled to make progress in a massive backlog of upgrade requests from thousands of other customers in the same position. At the time, webcams were unattainable through our vendors, yet maintaining cultural connection was important to us, so we purchased dozens of brandless test models until we found one that was good enough and shipped them to anyone who needed one, long before conventional channels opened back up. Video became a priority as we used it more.
SEA learned to connect using Zoom and quickly found creative ways to adapt their spaces to accommodate working from home.
Throughout 2020 and into 2021, I continued to help guide technology’s incorporation into HQ, only now with hybrid collaboration models in mind. Where before the pandemic architects might have preferred to meet in a room around a large table or touchscreen, with no camera or conference phone in sight, now tremendous value was being shown using virtual tools. Our partners at Diversified quickly reworked all our conference rooms to include cameras and microphone arrays before walls were closed. Software platforms like Bluebeam Studio allowed us to peer review and comment on each other’s work. A collaborative concept boarding tool named Miro enabled us to communicate visually. Web conferencing and instant messaging helped us maintain connection and close the distance, replacing conversations which might have previously happened in the kitchen or hallways.
Evolving our Understanding of Space Planning
Our office officially reopened earlier this year and not everyone has returned due to uncertainty about the virus, childcare needs, and mask mandates. We are neither fully remote, nor fully back in the office. Looking forward we are now transitioning into another phase of working, where our setups need to become more hybrid, with feet in two places. This territory is still largely unexplored, not just at SEA, but across the industry. As a technologist this is both exciting and daunting, yet we recognize that when setting out into the unknown our approach to exploration needs to be different than how it might be when exploring knowns.
In the hybrid workplace, space planning as we knew it–planning spaces to be used by people physically present–has evolved to include virtual spaces as well.
In the hybrid workplace, space planning as we knew it–planning spaces to be used by people physically present–has evolved to include virtual spaces as well. As SEA develops designs, we ask thoughtful questions to understand how the spaces will be used, both physically and virtually. We say, “Be confident about the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ in every detail and at every scale.” We learn from every project, and this is certainly true with our own HQ. I have no doubt what we learned from our own office will inform future projects.
As I write this now, I am encouraged by SEA’s recent Monday staff meeting. For the first time since moving into HQ, SEA found a way to meet hybrid as a whole company, where staff working in the office gathered in our town hall at the usual time, socially distanced and masked of course, while folks working remotely were projected onto a 12-foot screen with an insanely bright projector. Staff connecting from offsite heard us through our camera microphone, and we heard them through a system of ceiling mounted speakers. To me as a technologist, this felt significant, like somehow achieving warp drive, and I am assuming if you have made it this far in a technology-centric article you get the reference. This was the first time since the pandemic began where our leaders were speaking to an in-person audience first and to a screen second, rather than the other way around.
Our canvas is no longer blank. We moved in earlier this year, and what we have learned from this shift from office work, to remote, and now to hybrid, is that most people prefer to learn and collaborate in different and specific ways, and we must build in flexibility. How can I.T. help to support this? While it is understandable to think of “I.T.” as blinking lights, circuit boards, and cables, I fundamentally believe that technology must be about people first. Our digital tools need to not only support the practice of architecture but facilitate connection with each another. We remind ourselves that just as our technology is meant to connect us, so too are our office spaces. In the hybrid workplace technology can be paired with thoughtful architecture to create the flexibility needed to support the future of our ever-evolving work.
