DLR Group Workplace recent work and design innovation

1. WORKPLACE
elevations
2016 Review

2. 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

3. 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.
by
Filo Castore, AIA, LEED AP
The Human Element
Taking the meaning of “sustainability”
to the next level.
Insights in Workplace
UX in the Workplace
Blending 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.
by
Jeremy Reding, AIA, LEED AP

4. 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. 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,
Technology
Traditional materials meet modern amenities.

5. 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.
A Unified
Headquarters
Colocation for communication
and efficiency.

6. Insights in Workplace 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.
by
Amy Hoffman, IIDA
It’s Time to
Agilify the Office
Give individuals the environment
and support they need, and trust
them to get the job done.
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.

7. 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
Partnership achieves lofty,
common goals.

8. 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.
The interior is organized around biophilia inspired
neighborhoods. Echoing the regional ecosystem,
neighborhoods including Mountain, Meadow,
and Sound, each have distinctive identities
and landmarks.

9. 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.
by
Gretchen Wahab, NCIDQ, LEED AP
Workplace that Works™
Uniting people and place to
drive performance.
Insights in Workplace

10. 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 Culture
Stylish social spaces create a
community for tech company.

11. 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.
Next...
55% HVAC
specific energy
savings & 100% filtered
outside air
Energy + Engineering Solutions
Do more with less
Enhance building performance to
lower operating costs. Improve indoor
environmental quality to increase
productivity.
39% LIGHTING
specific 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% WATER
savings 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”

12. 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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