A Facility Story: Inside IDD's new multi-use headquarters and production facility
September 1st, 2021
By BOC design Inc
CCR Issue 9 Correspondent
The goal was simple: to build Innovative Display & Design's origin story. When leaders of the company sat down with the Svigals + Partners design team, the carved out a plan to take the industrial grittiness of the current space and give it the personal, hand-crafted sensibility the long defined the family like ties of its founders (three former college friends who studied Industrial Design together at the University of Bridgeport.
Leading the charge was Chris Bockstael, AIA, a lead designer and project architect at Svigals + Partners who spent the past 20 years working with clients like PepsiCo, ESPN and Yale University, to name a few. Bockstael and his team were tasked with renovating IDD’s Milford, Connecticut warehouse into a multi-use office, production and warehouse facility. The exhibit and event production firm’s new digs would consolidate several locations into one, providing a cohesive, efficient and welcoming environment to move its teams and operations into the future. To get an inside look at the project, we sat down with Bockstael, who also is a Partner at Svigals + Partners. Give us a snapshot of your brand?
Architecture, art, and advisory firm Svigals + Partners operates from core principles of creativity and collaboration, which we strive to foster in everything we undertake. Practicing gratitude and respect, and valuing curiosity and wonder over certainty, we’re passionate about utilizing design to enrich the human experience. Our shared vision is a world of prosperous, compassionate communities and our mission is to inspire our clients to collaborate with us in creating what we call productive playgrounds—environments of open participation and creative play, which support innovation, inspiration and productivity.
What are some of the biggest areas companies look for in their headquarter operations?
More of our workplace clients want ways to apply design to deliver a competitive edge. This leads many to recognize the value proposition of including dynamic space for collaboration. Informal gathering areas for socializing and breakout ideation sessions can support both productivity and breakthrough thinking, not to mention on-the-job satisfaction, which is essential for maintaining an edge in recruitment and retention. This approach to design for collaboration space also is becoming essential in other building sectors, such as research science facilities and academic buildings from K-12 to higher education. Another important trend is the need for flexibility in the use of space. Driven by companies seeking to optimize their workplace portfolio for value and to stay lean, this trend has accelerated since the pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding when and how (and how much) people will return to work in person. Talk about sustainability.
We work with our clients to integrate principles of sustainability into each design from the earliest pre-design phases, with the goal of providing leadership in this area. In addition to pursuing LEED and other standards for green building certification, we make efforts to stay at the leading edge of sustainable design trends and share with our clients how it will benefit the triple-bottom line: people, planet, profit. Many companies are aware their approach to the environment matters to their employees and customers, so they are open to hearing the latest ideas and working with us on setting ambitious goals. What trends are you seeing out there?
One is a push by owners and facility directors to upgrade infrastructure. While supply issues and rising prices for construction materials present challenges for some new construction projects, upgrades to existing assets represent a high potential for considerable return on investment. For example, the life sciences sector kept booming through the pandemic and shutdowns, and now there is a premium in many markets on space that can support research. Cost-effective upgrades to
"Our goal was to build on the business’ origin story—that it was born out of the three partners attending college together studying Industrial Design at the University of Bridgeport."
Class-A buildings can make them ready to support biomedical research organizations, and increase their per-square-foot rental value.
What’s the story behind the IDD headquarters redesign and expansion?
We were engaged to renovate the Milford, Connecticut warehouse into a multi-use office, production and warehouse facility. The new headquarters consolidates several locations into one, providing a cohesive, efficient, and welcoming environment to move the firm’s teams and operations into the future. Our goal was to build on the business’ origin story—that it was born out of the three partners attending college together studying Industrial Design at the University of Bridgeport. The current space has a sense of industrial grittiness with polish that hints at their maturation into a sophisticated organization. Underneath it all, the personal, hand-crafted sensibility reflects the familial-like ties that bind this team together.
What were some of the main things they wanted to accomplish?
The design team’s work on the warehouse conversion centered on aligning the environment with their brand while integrating IDD’s several locations into one unified headquarters that streamlines the flow of the work. The new interior layout supports the firm’s various departments with areas dedicated to staff offices and gathering spaces, large-scale warehousing and display production. Attention to the building’s exterior focused on transforming it from an inconspicuous presence to a noticeably welcome facility by creating a new entry point with an illuminated glass entrance that abuts steel panels for increased visibility, and rearranging the loading docks for better access. How does the design reflect what they were looking for?
We brought to life IDD’s identity as a caring, family-based organization with long-standing employees of diverse backgrounds through layout and design. These architectural applications maximize departmental efficiency and encourage opportunities for inter- and cross-departmental employees to collaborate, connect and socialize in a variety of areas. Health and wellness are infused throughout. Casual eating, gathering and meeting spaces were created inside the building, as well as on an outside patio, providing the team with natural environments to meet and mingle. Inviting offices with client-designed custom workstations for the team’s various departments, plus a reception area, comprising space dedicated to interior floorplan’s office layout. In the production and storage areas, expansive spaces allowed for the full-scale construction and stowing of massive displays, some towering several stories tall. A new 30-foot-high high bay area fitted with custom shelves and rigging for lights in the warehouse was created to accommodate the firm’s sizable equipment and large-scale displays. As well, space was allocated for the company’s large scale printing equipment, including two units with 20 feet x 40 feet flatbeds.
Walk us through the design.
Our hallmark collaborative approach with IDD’s executive team ensured that all aspects of the new headquarters’ design were captured and implemented. Previously, IDD had been constantly challenged with inefficiencies of work and material flow, limited shared resources for staff collaboration and interaction, limited access to daylight, and the building didn’t align with their brand. Based on those considerations, we positioned the new headquarters to meet those requirements, plus many more. We started by conducting a thorough programming study that unearthed the challenges that were holding them back.
The final study identified people, space, adjacencies and workflow diagrams that helped us create a road map as to how we would lay out the multi-dimensional programs. It addressed procedures and processing needs required to move raw goods through manufacture and shipping, while reducing redundancies and thereby saving time and allowing for greater production. The new layout limited the double handling of material and “right sized” the office needs, display set up space, and warehouse storage all within one facility. With that, a modern industrial aesthetic characterizes the interior spaces with the ceiling’s exposed mechanical systems, opened areas that bring in more natural light, and a neutral color palette for an environment with movement and life.
"Of primary importance was moving the building’s entry point for greater visibility and accessibility, including the addition of steel panels that lead to a new, lighted glass entrance."
Take us through your construction and design strategy.
The building’s construction was managed utilizing a design-build approach. Due to a limited budget, not everything designed was realized on day one. The architectural team recommended that the owner focus on the building’s infrastructure needs as the first step. Whatever was leftover, we split into second and lower tier items and addressed them with those priorities in mind. Of primary importance was moving the building’s entry point for greater visibility and accessibility, including the addition of steel panels that lead to a new, lighted glass entrance. At the same time, shifting the load dock ports for safer, streamlined access involved working around imposed spatial and infrastructure challenges. Inside, the warehouse was fully gutted and rebuilt following new layouts for multipurpose headquarters’ office area, production facility and warehouse.
What type of considerations were given to the state of the workplace today, i.e., COVID protocols, etc.?
The project was completed prior to COVID and the ensuing state-required protocols. Since then, the company has been planning a new phase of their workplace and their fulfillment and production strategies, to ensure compliance and in-person employee wellbeing and safety.
How will these protocols shape building and design moving forward?
COVID has forever changed the way we view public space. For the foreseeable future, our work will be impacted by various protocols. Finish materials will have to be more durable, to stand up to robust cleaning and sanitizing regimens. Ventilation and fenestration will be designed and specified with the potential for airborne contagions in mind. Layouts for many spaces will need to consider social distancing as a factor. CI
One on one with Svigals + Partners’ Christopher Bockstael
What's the biggest item on your to-do list right now?
We’re focused on Webster Street Development, a mixed-use development opportunity in the vibrant SoNo district of Norwalk, Connecticut.
Describe a typical day.
Wake up early, have coffee and log on to work. I try to get a couple hours of focus time before the real workday starts. Between 9-5, the day is filled with collaboration with our internal teams, communicating to potential partners, our consultants and owners. After work, I try to find time to get some exercise, rest and enjoy downtime with my family.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
This is a two-part answer because there are two aspects of my job that are really rewarding to me. The first is creating design solutions that evoke excitement and change people’s perspective on what is possible. Second, I love having the opportunity to work with so many talented people. I hope I inspire them as much as they inspire me.
What was the best advice you ever received?
Treat people the way you want to be treated.
What's the best thing a client ever said to you?
“Do you know why we hired you? Because you guys are the right amount of weird.” Drop the mic…
Name the three strongest traits any leader should have and why.
Communication. To me, communication is the essential trait all leaders must be able to perform. If you cannot communicate with your team and clients, your vision will never be fully realized. Develop others. Investing in your team allows you to create space for your own personal growth, and creates space for others to grow and adds diversity to your team(s). Fostering creativity. We face challenges every day and often we find solutions by thinking outside the box. Empowering creative thinking creates space for innovation.
What’s the true key to success for any manager?
Communication. If you can communicate well, it will allow you to guide your team and keep the owner and users informed. Get to know each team member’s strengths and weaknesses so you can utilize and promote aspects that excite each individual team member.
How do you like to spend your down time?
Doing anything outside: sports, beach, BBQ, spending time with friends and family.
Read the full CCR article here.
View project gallery of images here.
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