U.S. General Services Administration 

Public Buildings Service

Office of Applied Science

1800 F Street, NW

Washington, DC 20405

For more information:

www.gsa.gov/workplace
U.S. General Services Administration 

Public Buildings Service

Office of Applied Science

1800 F Street, NW

Washington, DC 20405

For more information:

www.gsa.gov/workplace

U.S. General Services Administration 

2006 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1 ADMINISTRATOR’S LETTER


3 FOREWORD


5 WHY WORKPLACE MATTERS


11 WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS


29 RECENT WORKPLACE PROJECTS 

31 Designing for the Nature of Work 

US COAST GUARD MLCP(v), OAKLAND, CA 

39 Adapting the Workplace to New Ways of Working 

GSA MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE, PHILADELPHIA, PA 

49 Transforming a Munitions Factory into an Award-Winning Workplace 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL OFFICE, DENVER, CO 

57 People, Process, Place 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE GREAT LAKES REGIONAL OFFICE, CHICAGO, IL 

67 Using Cost Reduction to Create a Better Place to Work 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RICHLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE, RICHLAND, WA 

75 A Small Project Makes a Big Impact 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER, SAN ANTONIO, TX 

85 Complexity Simplified 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 

93 From Workplace to Master Plan 

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK HEADQUARTERS, JACKSON HOLE, WY 

99 Creating a “Living Laboratory” 

GSA SENIOR LEADERSHIP SPACE, AUBURN, WA 

109 Creating a More Collaborative Workforce 

GSA OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS, WASHINGTON, DC 

115 From Organizational Analysis to Design Scheme in Five Days 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE SERVICE CENTER, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 

123 Design for Service, Honor and Commitment to America’s Veterans 

VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL OFFICE, RENO, NV 

129 The Improvisational Workplace 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE ADAPTABLE WORKPLACE LABORATORY, WASHINGTON, DC 

135 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS 

139 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

ADMINISTRATOR’S LETTER 

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) grew from the findings 

of the 1948 Hoover Commission, which took a hard look at the administrative 

functions of the federal government during that era. Within the Federal 

Government, the Commission found unnecessary duplication, excessive costs, 

and confusion in handling supplies and providing space. Fifty-seven years 

later, GSA is in the midst of a major transformation. It will return GSA to 

President Truman’s vision of a world-class agency that serves as an example 

and resource to other agencies. 

Superior customer service is the target. To hit the bull’s-eye, GSA will work 

harder and smarter to understand—and anticipate—the needs of those 

who do business with GSA. Using the expertise of a dedicated 11,000-plus 

nationwide workforce, GSA enables Federal agencies to refocus scarce 

management and contracting resources on their core missions. 

In the end, our common goal is the same today as it was more than five 

decades ago when GSA was created. As articulated in our mission statement, 

GSA helps Federal agencies better serve the public by offering—at best 

value—superior workplaces, expert solutions, acquisition services, and 

management policies. 

WorkPlace Matters provides a glimpse at the Public Buildings Service’s 

cutting-edge capability to make your workplace a strategic tool that uniquely 

merges organizational efficiency with people-focused design and aesthetics. 

I hope you find it a useful sample of the innovations and solutions GSA offers. 

Lurita Doan 

Administrator 

1 

FOREWORD 

As the Federal Government’s premier acquisition and workplace solution agency, 

the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is committed to designing and 

delivering workplaces that maximize long-term economic and strategic value for 

our customers. 

We live in a time of rapidly changing Federal missions, workforce demographics, 

and technology. These changes are triggering dramatic shifts in the way Federal 

agencies perform and deliver their work. Over the past four years, GSA’s Public 

Buildings Service has researched, developed, and tested a suite of tools and 

methods designed to deliver workplaces that anticipate and address evolving 

work practices in the Federal Government. 

Federal workplace projects have many different origins and differ in their 

complexity and ambition. Whatever their origin, scale, or focus, all workplace 

projects have one thing in common—to succeed. To do this, the workplace 

design must derive from a grounded understanding of the organization, the 

employees, and the work they must accomplish. This book, WorkPlace Matters, 

discusses the importance of workplace as a business tool, describes key GSA 

workplace offerings, and illustrates both with case studies. Each case study 

highlights a particular issue and demonstrates how the GSA workplace consulting team helped the client to develop approaches and customize solutions. 

The link between physical infrastructure and organizational performance is real. 

A well-designed workplace offers great potential to improve organizational 

performance and realize financial return far greater than the initial investment. 

I encourage you to take advantage of the expertise GSA has to offer by transforming your workplace and bringing value beyond what you could have imagined. 

David L. Winstead 

Commissioner


Public Buildings Service
 3 

Why Workplace Matters


Human capital matters 

because it is the source of 

innovation and renewal. 

THOMAS STEWART 

INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL, 2000 

The General Services Administration and its Public Buildings Service share 

a focus in their missions—to help other federal agencies succeed through 

their use of superior workplaces. 

We believe that workplace—as a tool for an organization to accomplish its 

mission—matters. The reasons evolve from a changing workforce, an increased 

understanding about how the workplace can be used as a tool, and the 

changing nature of work itself. A growing body of research shows that the 

workplace affects many facets of work: 

• The health and well-being of the people working in the building 

• The ability of organizations to attract and retain people 

• Employee engagement 

• How well teams achieve results 

• Absenteeism 

• The cost of accommodating organizational evolution or change 

• The image of an organization to its customers (and to its members) 

• The speed of communication 

• The cost of energy and other buildings operations 

Organizational Challenge 

As stewards of the Federal Government’s missions, we now face a future 

where nearly half the Federal workforce is eligible to retire by 2008. More 

than half of the middle management and senior executives of all federal agencies 

can retire today. This is a crisis for organizations because we are now beginning 

to understand that an organization’s knowledge consists mostly of people’s 

memories and experiences, not databases. 

5 workplace matters 
Why Workplace Matters 

Good office design can produce 

powerful learning environments. But 

much of that power comes from 

incidental learning... people often find 

what they need to know by virtue 

of where they sit and who they see. 

JOHN SEELY BROWN AND PAUL DUGUID 

THE SOCIAL LIFE OF INFORMATION, 2000 

Additionally, for the first time in history, our workforce comprises four 

generations, each with a different approach to work and diverse expectations 

of the workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown recently that 

workers who have been in the workforce for 10 to 20 years have changed jobs 

an average of 10.5 times; workers who have been in the workforce for more 

than 30 years average fewer than six times. Another recent survey showed 

40 percent of all workers would change jobs immediately if they could keep their 

health insurance. A third survey that has been repeated several times over the 

past decade shows people use their perceptions of a workplace as an important 

discriminating factor in job selection. The old workplace paradigms, typified 

by the palatial offices with windows being given to people solely on the basis 

of rank and seniority, or the concept that we will work in the same place every 

day, have little appeal to modern workers who understand that technology is 

changing the possibilities for what, when, why, how, and with whom we work. 

Furthermore, work itself has been changing incrementally. The effects are 

most pronounced by looking back 20 or 30 years. Management philosophies 

have moved from accumulation and conglomeration to streamlining, from 

command and control to collaboration, and from out-tasking to out-sourcing 

and off-shoring. Thirty years ago, people often worked on a single project for 

a considerable length of time; now people typically work on multiple projects 

simultaneously. Since 1959, routine cognitive tasks have decreased by 

nearly 60 percent, and nonroutine tasks that lead to greater organizational 

success have increased by 40 percent. 

Peter Drucker introduced the concept of the “knowledge worker” in 1959, 

and today knowledge is universally accepted as the engine of economic success. 

When work was more routine and repetitive, there was an emphasis on tactical, 

work-process improvements. Today, with more complex and dynamic knowledge 

6 
It’s not only that more people 

do knowledge work; also 

increasing is the knowledge 

content of all work. 

THOMAS STEWART 

INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL, 2000 

work, processes need to be flexible and improvisational, not carefully engineered. 

Outsourcing, concentration on core business, and more focus on customers 

have generated work approaches that are more strategic and less tactical. 

Cost Versus Impact 

In a business environment, work is fluid. Offices with only static, standardized 

workstations often fail to support people in accomplishing the organization’s 

mission. Yet organizations usually do not have space specifically designed 

for the work they perform. If the space is well designed for the work of the 

organization, the total long-term costs would be less. 

Any Chief Financial Officer will argue that the only thing to do with overhead, 

including the workplace, is to reduce it. Currently, most corporations 

measure space solely in terms of size or cost. We advocate, instead, evaluating 

the cost effectiveness of the space. Comparing the benefits of space and 

furnishings to the cost of design and construction is similar to comparing 

the benefits of technology to the cost of technology infrastructure. If the benefits 

didn’t matter, we would not have any laptops; the desktops would still be 

running on a 286 processor; and the software would not have been updated 

from that 1980s version of a spreadsheet, VisiCalc. After all, that old 

computer and spreadsheet worked just fine, except technology advances 

offer obvious boosts in productivity. There is a clear belief and understanding 

that computers and software are essential ingredients in organizational 

success: They enable innovation. 

Technology is just one part of a functional and flexible workplace, which 

has the potential to offer much more than cost savings (i.e., smaller is 

better). It has the potential to increase individual productivity, and more 

importantly, it has the potential to help improve organizational effectiveness. 

7 workplace matters 
Why Workplace Matters 

We are seeing the impact of 

virtual workplaces colliding with 

traditional corporate practices. 

The Agile Workplace has its 

focus on the work itself—not 

on the technology, the buildings 

or the organizational chart. 

This new environment can be 

highly motivating for employees 

only if executives lead this 

renaissance properly. 

MICHAEL BELL 

VICE PRESIDENT, PROJECT CO-DIRECTOR 

GARTNER RESEARCH 

Vivian Loftness and a team of researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University 

have identified more than 100 studies that scientifically link physical 

infrastructure to organizational performance. Positive effects include lower 

use of sick leave, lower expenses on health claims, and productivity increases. 

In short, the financial returns to the companies can be far greater than the 

initial investment. 

Workplace Matters 

The emphasis of workplace design should be on the people and the work they 

accomplish. The cost of people in a building is typically 10 to 12 times the 

cost of the building’s infrastructure. We believe that space—as a tool to help 

people work—can, should, and does matter. 

8 
•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• • •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

The chart below summarizes best practices for supporting 

people and their work from a report drawing on the 

experiences of more than 600 companies and government 

agencies. 

COMPONENTS OF THE AGILE WORKPLACE 

PEOPLE PROCESS-SYSTEMS WORKPLACE

Collaborative JIT Teams Collaborative Tools Collaborative Spaces 

Cross-Company Projects Audio/Video Conferences Universal Connectivity 

Competency Focus Knowledge Management Flexible Interiors 

Knowledge-Centricity E-Learning Emphasis on Functionality 

Remote Work Integrated Applications Alternative Workplace 

Solutions 

Mobile Workers Road Maps of People 

and Places Person-Centric Services 

Balanced Risks/Rewards 

Handheld and Wireless 

ADAPTED FROM WORK IN THE AGILE WORKPLACE 9 workplace matters 

BY MICHAEL BELL AND MICHAEL JOROFF, 2001. 

WorkPlace Solutions


HOW WORK GETS DONE 

Current workplaces are often a poor fit for the new ways of working that have 

emerged over the past 30 years. They are often the accumulation of changes 

made over the years as organizations attempted to accommodate new 

demands—additional people, reorganizations, new programs, management 

initiatives. Especially with older, inflexible construction techniques and 

materials, the results can be chaotic, dysfunctional or inhibiting. To remedy 

this situation, GSA has developed new ways to help our clients develop their 

requirements for workspace. Analyzing conventional workplace programming, 

GSA found that a traditional focus on data such as total space needs and 

head counts offers little understanding of how people work, the problems and 

constraints they face, and why these problems exist. In other words, workplace 

programming typically does not solve problems that ultimately benefit the 

organization’s mission and business. 

A New Approach 

In 2002 GSA launched WorkPlace 20·20 to develop and test techniques 

tailored to helping our federal clients to treat office space, workplace technologies, and work processes as an integrated system strategically designed to 

enhance organizational effectiveness. Drawing on methods developed by leading 

academic institutions and workplace consultants, GSA forged a common 

toolkit that provides a cost- and time-effective way to design workplaces that 

best fit the work our clients do, and the ways that work gets done. 

These tools and methods have been thoroughly tested in a series of nearly two 

dozen pilot projects across the country. Our research has shown that these 

tools are remarkably effective in enabling our clients to build workplaces that 

support and anticipate evolving work practices in the federal government. 

11 workplace solutions 
WorkPlace Solutions 

When the organization as a whole is 

challenged to rethink its central 

mission, assumptions, and strategies, 

then everything about the organization 

is equally subject to change—including 

the spaces within which the organization 

operates and the manner in which 

those spaces are created. 

T.H. HORGEN, M.L. JOROFF, W.L. PORTER, 

AND D.A. SCHÖN 

EXCELLENCE BY DESIGN, 1999 

Four key elements serve as the foundation of GSA’s WorkPlace program. 

•	 Balanced Scorecard Approach. In most traditional organizations, there 

have always been ample measurements of one particular kind: financial data. 

Financial data, however, does not tell the whole story of an organization. 

The Balanced Scorecard, developed by Kaplan and Norton of the Harvard 

Business School beginning in 1992, includes four domains—financial, business 

practices, customer, and human capital. Kaplan and Norton demonstrated 

that organizations that measure their work in all four domains perform better 

and survive longer. GSA uses this framework uniquely to link ideas about 

workplace back to the organization’s goals. Workplace solutions proposed must 

be tied to organizational needs and also have measures of success: measures 

that mean success to the organization inhabiting the space. 

•	 Quantitative and Qualitative Discovery Toolkit. Traditional space-planning 

methods rely on statistics that are readily available, such as job titles, 

cubic feet of files, organizational rank, and, often, self-reported work habits. 

Empirical evidence shows, however, that work styles are often different—when 

observed—from what people report. Work habits rarely align with job titles, 

functions, or grades. GSA’s WorkPlace program solves this problem by 

deriving design concepts and proposed solutions from an understanding of the 

organization, its goals, its culture, and its current and desired work practices 

grounded in both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative methods 

include analysis of space use, turnover rates, absenteeism, and costs. Qualitative 

methods include a Web-based workplace satisfaction survey, visioning 

sessions focused on organizational goals, and focus groups to assess values, 

perceptions, and behavioral norms. We have frequently found that the most 

interesting discoveries occur when people report one thing and we observe 

something different. 

12 
90% 

80% 

70% 

60% 

50% 

40% 

30% 

20% 

10% 

0% 

2000 2005 2010 

Different Times, Different Places 

email, document transmission/delivery 

Same Time, Different Places 

audio or video conference, IM, telephone 

Same Time, Same Place 

meetings, employee management 

Noninteractive 

Percentage of Worker’s Product 

Dependent on Group Input 

100% 

Working with others while in different times and 

different places will become the dominant work style 

of the future, replacing noninteractive work, which 

was the dominant workstyle of the past. 

CHANGING WAYS OF WORKING 

DATA PROVIDED BY THE GARTNER GROUP, 13 workplace solutions 

SURVEY OF 600 CORPORATE EXECUTIVES, 2001. 
WorkPlace Solutions 

The objectives and the measures for 

the Balanced Scorecard are more than 

just a somewhat ad hoc collection of 

financial and nonfinancial performance 

measures; they are derived from a 

top-down process driven by the mission 

and strategy of the business unit. 

R.S. KAPLAN AND D.P. NORTON 

THE BALANCED SCORECARD, 1996 

FINANCE 

CUSTOMER 

BUSINESS 

PROCESS 

HUMAN CAPITAL 

•	 Change Management. GSA’s WorkPlace program involves the broadest possible 

number of employees in surveys, workshops, and focus groups. These group 

exercises serve to elicit needed information and also to build consensus 

regarding future ways of working. Establishing broad understanding of the 

alignment between the physical workspace and work activities enables employees 

move beyond “space as entitlement” to needs-based space allocation. 

•	 Feedback Loop. GSA’s WorkPlace program uses a modified version of Deming’s 

“Plan, Do, Check, Act” continuous feedback loop. The hallmarks of this process 

are clearly identifying connections between business/workplace goals (plan), 

designing solutions (do), measuring organizational outcomes (check), and 

improving upon the originally identified business/workplace goals (act). 

THE BALANCED SCORECARD 

Developed by Harvard Business School professors Robert Kaplan and David 

Norton, the Balanced Scorecard is a both a measurement and a management 

system linked to an organization’s mission. It provides a snapshot of the 

organization’s business strategy by identifying goals, actions, and measures 

needed to achieve the mission. Measures identify financial, business process, 

human capital, and customer outcomes to provide a “balanced” perspective 

on how well the organization is performing and to guide improvements. 

The Scorecard is widely used in both the public and private sectors. 

In the federal government, the Comptroller General urges agencies to use 

the Scorecard as part of their compliance with the Government Performance 

Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). 

14 
Beyond Spatial Needs 

Many agencies have approaches to generating space programs. Existing 

workspace procurement processes typically involve agencies collecting and 

generating their own detailed space and square-footage requirements 

and then submitting them to GSA’s Public Building Service (PBS). PBS then 

evaluates available federal and lease-market space supply that meets these 

requirements and procures space that best matches these requirements. 

GSA research, however, has found that rapid changes in federal missions, 

workforce demographics, and technology are triggering dramatic shifts in 

agencies’ business delivery paradigms. In this complex and fluid landscape, 

existing approaches to developing space program requirements are not likely 

to produce workspaces that will satisfy most federal agencies’ needs over their 

service life. For the past five years, GSA has researched, developed, and 

tested tools and methods that address this need. The tools and methods that 

have proven most effective in providing federal agencies a fast, practical 

way to discover their key performance requirements for a successful workplace 

are now being incorporated into the way GSA interacts with its customers 

and then develops requirements for space. 

Unlike older space-planning techniques where “one size fits all” is the norm, 

GSA now takes into account the organization’s current conditions and needs: 

• Has there been a recent reorganization, or is the mission undergoing change? 

• Is the workforce stabile or shifting? 

• Are business processes static or developing, and is this related to technology? 

Based on a discussion with the organization’s leaders, GSA tailors the tools 

used to the needs of the client. 

15 workplace solutions 
WorkPlace Solutions 

Processes and tools are needed to 

bridge different frameworks, values and 

professional languages that naturally 

complicate decision making about 

work environments... Approaches need 

to be devised to surface conflicting 

objectives and viewpoints brought into 

the workplace-making arena by stakeholders with different interests, powers, 

and freedoms. 

T.H. HORGEN, M.L. JOROFF, W.L. PORTER, 

AND D.A. SCHÖN 

EXCELLENCE BY DESIGN, 1999 

Program of RequirementsPLUS 

For every customer, GSA is using a set of tools that can be scaled to the size 

and complexity of the project, as well as to the organization’s needs. PORPlus 

consists of a set of tools that sharpen the process of matching an agency 

with buildings or spaces that best meet its needs. A robust knowledge base 

of best practices and precedent agency projects serves as the backbone of 

the PORPlus process. Web-enabled tools facilitate cost-effective and accurate 

gathering of detailed physical and organizational requirements. Reports 

with clear, detailed requirements and an enhanced level of qualitative and 

quantitative specifications enable an agency to evaluate options, make critical 

and timely decisions, and identify solutions that might not have seemed 

possible. PORPlus tools will be fully deployed in 2007. 

Deep Dive 

Sometimes the opportunity to make organizational improvement coincides with 

the need to obtain new space. For these cases, GSA has developed the Deep 

Dive. Based on the concepts of Horgen, Joroff, Porter, and Schön’s Excellence 

by Design, the Deep Dive helps organizations use space change as a catalyst 

to propel organizational change. The Deep Dive is a consultant-facilitated 

process that provides an intensive organizational analysis and thorough understanding of the implications of alternative workplace designs. The heart of 

the Deep Dive process consists of: 

•	 An online survey of occupant satisfaction with the workplace’s performance. 

•	 A visioning session to understand the organization’s current and desired 

future directions. 

•	 Observational techniques that systematically record the ways the workplace 

is being used and how work is done. 

•	 Focus groups that build on a presentation of the results of these activities. 

16 
The Deep Dive occurs near the beginning of a project, 

when the design process is still flexible and cost of 

change is low. 

DEXTERITY OF THE DEEP DIVE 

COST TO CH

FLEXIBILITY ANGE 

PRE-DESIGNTHE DEEP DIVECONCEPTDESIGN DEVELOPMENTWORKING DRAWINGSBIDCONSTRUCTIONOCCUPANCY 

TIME ,

17 workplace solutions 
18

DEEP DIVE, STEP BY STEP 

•	 Step 1: Information gathering. Both quantitative (space, people, equipment) 

and qualitative (goals, business strategies, occupant satisfaction) data are 

gathered via online surveys and organizational data collection. 

•	 Step 2: Planning. An informed discussion with the organization’s leaders 

determines whether our information accurately reflects the organization’s current needs and identifies which tools will be most effective. 

•	 Step 3: On-site. A rapid and intensive series of consultant-facilitated exercises 

is designed to “dive in” to the organization and develop a quick understanding 

of organizational issues. An optimal solution for the organization is developed 

and objective ways to evaluate an architectural design solution against 

measurable performance criteria are established. 

•	 Step 4: One-day charette. GSA, the workplace consulting team, the design 

team, and the client meet to hand-off the consultant-facilitated solution to 

the designer for development of the working documents required to procure 

and construct the space. Then construct, fit out, and move in. 

•	 Step 5: Post-occupancy evaluation (POE). Six to 12 months after move-in, 

Deep Dive uses POE tools to evaluate the project’s success in meeting measurable performance criteria. 

•	 Step 6: Occupy, maintain, improve. A Deep Dive produces a “living document” 

that enables the tenant to maintain and adapt the space to future needs. 

left:	 GSA’S WORKPLACE PROGRAM ORGANIZES A VARIETY 19 workplace solutions 

OF MEETINGS TO ENLIST EMPLOYEES IN THE WORKPLACE DESIGN PROCESS. 
THE DEEP DIVE PROCESS TEINITIA

r

Gather data 

Set roles and 


esponsibilities


Launch Web survey


3

Consultant 

on-site 

6–8 WEEKS 1–2 WEEKS DEEP DIVE

Design charette 

Change Management 

plan, if needed 

Design review by 

Deep Dive team 

3DESIGN

TIME VARIES ACCORDING 

IMPLEMENT 

Build-out or 


construction


Furniture, finishes, 

equipment 

Project close out 

Post-occupancy 

evaluation 

3

TIME VARIES ACCORDING 

TO PROJECT SIZE AND SCOPE TO PROJECT SIZE AND SCOPE 

20 
The Deep Dive is a consultant-facilitated process that 

provides an intensive organizational analysis to form the 

basis of effective design. 

THE DEEP DIVE SCHEDULE 

3

3

Project 


kick-off 


3

Visioning sessions 

3

Observational study 

3

Interviews and focus groups 

3

Analysis of information gathered 

3

Consultant workshop 

3

Scenario development 

3

Presentation recommendations 

3

Deep Dive 

report 

3

DEEP DIVE

DESIGN 

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 

SAMPLE SHOWN FOR SMALL ORGANIZATION. 21 workplace solutions 
WorkPlace Solutions 

GSA has partnered with DEGW, HOK 

Advance Strategies, Gensler, Studios, 

the University of California, Berkeley, 

Carnegie Mellon University, and the 

Georgia Institute of Technology to share 

methods, research their effectiveness, 

and develop a common toolkit that 

provides understanding of the linkages 

between work and workplace. 

WorkPlace Solutions Based On Data 

•	 Workstyles Analysis. Identifies workstyles so that space, adjacencies, and 

equipment can be more precisely designed for the work performed. 

•	 Culture Cards. Describes the current and desired state of the organization 

using analogy, imagery, and metaphor. 

•	 Time/Space Utilization (TSU). Uses a systematic survey to record the ways 

employees actually use the workspace in terms of simple occupancy and task 

parameters. The TSU provides an objective counterpoint to the ways employees think they are using space. 

•	 Web-based Survey. Enables all employees to provide feedback on how well 

the workplace supports their work, how well the workplace is aligned with the 

image the organization wants to project, and how satisfied employees are with 

the quality of the indoor environment. 

•	 Camera Exercise. Enables a representative sample of employees, using 

disposable cameras, to take pictures in response to a series of questions. The 

resulting collection of images provides a cross check to employee perceptions 

and behavior reported in other surveys. 

•	 Social Network Analysis. Uses a Web-based survey to identify which groups 

and individuals are critical hubs of information. This knowledge affects optimal 

placement in the final plan. 

•	 Visualization. Provides rapid sketches and collages to help all parties visualize 

possible outcomes and help in evaluating them effectively. 

22 
•	 Physical Measures. Provides a pair of mobile carts to generate an objective 

“snapshot” of the office environment by measuring indoor air, lighting, 

thermal, and acoustical conditions. These mobile carts represent an easy way 

to gather objective data. 

•	 Evaluation Criteria. Establishes measurable goals at the beginning of a 

project to challenge the team to focus on achievable results. This establishes 

a framework in which decisions are aligned with the big-picture goals, and 

empowers an “informed client.” 

•	 Post-occupancy Spider Diagram. Provides a simple but highly effective 

“read” on differences between the new space and the existing one in areas 

that the organization has identified as critical to its performance. 

Facilitating Employee Buy-In 

To successfully deploy a new workplace, the changes experienced by the 

employees must also be considered. PORPlus and the Deep Dive begin 

the change management process early. By engaging employees across the 

organization with tools ranging from surveys to town hall meetings, change 

management is viewed as an organizational opportunity, and employee 

expectations are proactively managed. A key premise of both the PORPlus 

and Deep Dive programs is that the design of the workplace should grow 

from a broad strategic standpoint as employees—an agency’s most critical 

and active resource—are linked to the creation of value that supports the 

overall mission. 

23 workplace solutions 
Office Layout 

Office Furnishings 

Thermal Comfort 

Air Quality 

Lighting 

Acoustic Quality 

Cleanliness 

and Maintenance 

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 

AVERAGE SATISFACTION SCORE 

This Web-based survey provides feedback on how 

well the workplace is performing, how well the workplace 

is aligned with the image the organization wants to 

project, and employee satisfaction with the quality of 

the indoor environment. 

WORKPLACE INTERIOR ECOLOGY 

24 
25 workplace solutions

WORKPLACE PERFORMANCE

IN ADDITION TO WORKSTATION ATTRIBUTES, 

OTHER ITEMS ASSESSED INCLUDE WORKER

INTERACTION, MEETING FACILITIES, AND 

INFORMATION ACCESS.

This diagram rates the importance of various workplace

elements to employees—in this example, workstation 

attributes. Ideally, the most important elements should

appear in the upper right “Target Zone.” One of the

goals of redesigning the workplace is to attempt to bring

all important workplace elements into this zone. This

technique is adapted from work by the consulting 

firm DEGW.

PERFORMANCE

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

3

2

1

0

-1

-2

-3

UNDERPERFORMING TARGET ZONE

Workstation enables 

working with paper

Workstation enables 

long-term computer use

SUCCESSFUL

TANCE

PERFORMANCE

Workstation enables 

working with others

IMPOR

Workstation prevents

outside distractions

RATED NOT IMPORTANT

Workstation allows

view of other workstations

1

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1
WorkPlace Solutions 

Every design is a hypothesis waiting 

to be tested. 

JUDITH HEERWAGEN 

INTERIOR DESIGN HANDBOOK OF 

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE, 2002 

Value 

Projects in the WorkPlace 20·20 pilot program were selected for the range of 

conditions they presented. Across these projects, a number of themes and 

findings emerged that point to the value of the PORPlus and Deep Dive tools. 

•	 The problems initially identified are usually not the problems that need 

to be solved. By digging deeper into the organizational context and ways of 

working, we typically find that initial assumptions give way to new insights 

about what needs to change and why. 

•	 What people say they do and what they actually do are very different. 

Systematic behavioral observations repeatedly show that people are not good 

at estimating the ways they spend their time at work. 

•	 Effective adaptation to new space often takes several years. Changes in 

behaviors, work practices, and relationships often require time to develop— 

especially when the new workplace represents a significant departure from 

past practices. 

•	 Expression of culture and a sense of place are important elements of workplace 

strategy. Clients see the workplace as an important way to convey their values, 

culture, and client focus. 

•	 Experimentation provides insights into the ways people work. Several of the 

case study projects have used mock-ups as well as experimental spaces to 

gain a deeper understanding of the links among space, furnishings, and work 

processes. 

•	 Financial savings are achieved in many ways and at different levels of scale. 

Economies can be found even if they are not the focus of workplace redesign. 

26 
Savings result in many ways, from consolidation and improved flexibility to 

rethinking an agency’s portfolio of spaces; from discovering underutilized 

resources to effective use of common space; from consolidation of common 

services to elimination of unused assets. 

A Good Foundation Is the Key to Everything 

The Tower of Pisa was built to show the rest of the world the wealth of the 

city of Pisa. The people of Pisa were very good sailors and had conquered 

many lands, including Jerusalem, Tunis, Ibiza, Mallorca, Belgium, Britannia, 

Norway, Spain, and Morocco. The building of the Tower represented the last 

element in a celebrative complex of monuments. 

So why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean? Despite the considerable design 

skills evident in the bell tower’s plan, the eight-story structure was built on 

a riverbed with uneven layers of sand and clay, and the 3-meter foundation 

was completely insufficient for supporting the heavy limestone and marble. 

The tower began leaning early—during construction of the third floor. Instead 

of starting over, the builders chose the easiest way out. They built the upper 

floors parallel to the ground, not to the lower floors. Eight hundred years 

later, the Italians are still spending money to keep the tower standing. Things 

would be very different if the builders had understood the importance of 

starting with a sound foundation. 

The willingness to examine the customer’s organization needs closely forms 

the firm foundation for a modern workplace. Using solid current research and 

fast, flexible data collection, and linking every idea back to the organization’s 

goals: This is GSA’s way to help agencies deliver their missions to the taxpayer, 

using workplace as a tool to that end. 

above:	 THE IMPORTANCE OF A SOLID FOUNDATION: 27 workplace solutions 

THE TOWER OF PISA BEGAN TO LEAN WHEN 

IT WAS LESS THAN HALF-COMPLETED. 

CASE STUDIES 

Recent WorkPlace Projects 

Federal workplace projects have many different origins. Some result 

from organizational change or the creation of new services. Others are 

planned long in advance in conjunction with a move to a new facility. 

Whatever their origin, scale, or focus, all workplace projects have 

one thing in common—to succeed, the workplace design must derive 

from a grounded understanding of the organization. 

The workplaces described in this section represent a range of 

federal agencies and types of projects. They range from small customerservice centers to large, multi-building sites. Some projects focus 

on changing work relationships, whereas others look at ways to make 

work more efficient and flexible. Many projects were pilots in GSA’s 

WorkPlace 20·20 program, and they all based their design strategies 

on focused analysis of the organizations, their business goals, 

and the nature of work. 

29 
30

U.S. COAST GUARD MLCP(v) 

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 

Designing for the Nature of Work


HOW DO WE WORK? 

HOW SHOULD WE WORK? 

Research shows that for most organizations, employees do not resist change 

per se. Rather, they are wary of the way change occurs. If decisions are made 

without meaningful employee engagement, achieving consensus for a new 

direction is difficult, and worse, active resistance can result. 

To overcome this hurdle, GSA’s WorkPlace process is highly participatory. 

Using a wide variety of methods, ranging from town hall discussions to 

interviews and focus groups, from Web-based surveys to systematic observations 

of the ways people work, the WorkPlace process fosters conversation at all 

organizational levels about the ways work gets done and ways the workplace 

can help people get it done better. 

Taking Advantage of a Move 

Following 9/11, the Coast Guard decided to move certain operations that 

did not require top security from Coast Guard Island, an island in the 

San Francisco Bay, and into the Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown 

Oakland, California. One group making this move was the Vessels Division, 

which has responsibility for both long-term maintenance of Coast Guard vessels 

in the Pacific and emergency response when a vessel is in trouble. Staff 

members were concerned about leaving the familiar environment, losing the 

organizational culture they had developed, and allowing distance to create 

barriers between themselves and their internal customers remaining on the 

island. The Coast Guard leadership, which had just received a Malcolm 

Baldrige Quality Award, viewed the move as an opportunity to improve their 

organization further. So they turned to the GSA WorkPlace consulting team. 

Using the full complement of GSA’s WorkPlace tools, the team made a 

comprehensive examination of workstyles, organizational relationships, workplace 

performance, and mission objectives. Discussions considered the barriers, 

left: OPEN WORKSTATIONS SUPPORT EASY 

COMMUNICATION. 

31 workplace projects 
Designing for the Nature of Work 

U.S. COAST GUARD MLCP(v) 

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: Gensler 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 20,000 

Number of Occupants: 104 

Date Occupied: June 2005 

constraints, and supports people experienced in everyday activities as well 

as when they responded to more urgent, unanticipated activities. The team 

found that the Vessels division was under tremendous pressure to balance the 

conflicting requirements of a budget largely allocated to routine maintenance 

of ships and a growing need to respond to emergency breakdowns of an aging 

fleet. Furthermore, a cultural divide had grown between the groups responsible 

for maintenance and those for emergency response, and the workplace did 

not help these groups work together effectively. The groups were functioning 

largely independently in different buildings. 

Building Consensus 

Several town hall meetings provided forums for discussion about the organization—its goals, current situation, and desired future direction. The first 

meeting—a town hall visioning session—identified organizational goals. 

The goals were separated into the four categories of the Balanced Scorecard. 

Subsequent meetings expanded on work strategies that supported these 

goals. If the physical design of the workplace couldn’t directly affect a goal, 

it was “binned.” Remaining strategies were then organized into a framework 

that could guide the design of the project and also measure its success. 

Captain Philip Sullivan of the Vessel Division thought the town meetings 

created a strong sense of ownership and engagement in change. Other Coast 

Guard staff concurred and identified additional benefits, including reduced 

anxiety about the change and increased confidence that management had 

really thought about the change and its impact on staff members. The staff 

member charged with building out the design noted that the GSA WorkPlace 

process made them better GSA clients and helped them to interact more 

effectively with the design and construction teams. 

32 
A Balanced Scorecard (BSC) enables managers to 

see their organization more clearly and make wiser longterm decisions. The BSC describes what has to be 

measured to answer the question, “How well do we know 

how well we do our work?” 

BALANCED SCORECARD: 

PERFORMANCE-BASED DESIGN 

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 

CUSTOMER

SATISFAC

TIO N 

I N

DIVIDUAL

EF FECT IVE NESS 

ORGANIZAT IONAL CAPABILI TY 

GOALS 

Reduce ongoing 

operational costs 

Maintain contract 

growth below 

20 percent 

Workplace that 

works for staff 

Promote work/life 

balance 

Timely response 

Manage customer 

expectations 

Continuously improve 

key processes 

Recognize individual 

success 

Number of in-person 

communications 

Number of emergency 

responses 

Occupant 

satisfaction 

survey 

Physical measures 

of light, acoustics, 

and air quality 

Meeting-space 

utilization rate 

Customer satisfaction 

survey 

Employee engagement (Q12) 

Focus groups 

on collaboration 

and mentoring 

METRICS 

“Hotel” space 

on Coast 

Guard Island 

Adjacent location for 

emergency response and 

maintenance groups 

Consolidated 

resources 

Areas to work 

privately 

Access to 

natural light 

Central, 

consolidated 

file areas 

Space that makes it 

easy to meet as a team 

Visual display 

of awards 

Places to display 

work in progress 

Space for 

collaboration 

More “transparent” 

workplace 

WORKPLACE

 STRATEGY 

THE COAST GUARD HELD TWO ALL-HANDS 33 workplace projects 

VISIONING MEETINGS. PARTICIPANTS 

IDENTIFIED GOALS, STRATEGIES, AND WAYS 

OF MEASURING SUCCESS. 
Designing for the Nature of Work 

U.S. COAST GUARD MLCP(v) 

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 

The WorkPlace program’s approach 

and methodology offer an extremely 

valuable tool for organizations 

to better determine who they are 

and how they interact. 

COMMANDER JOHN HARDING, USCG MLCP(v) 

The WorkPlace program forces 

you to think of the workplace 

as a strategic organizational tool. 

We learned a lot about how 

we do work, which is driving other 

organizational changes. 

REAR ADM. JODY A. BRECKENRIDGE, USCG 

Coming Together 

The town hall meetings were supplemented with other methods to learn more 

about the nature of work. There were several key questions: 

•	 Who really needs to talk to whom and about what? 

•	 How can we create a culture that values communication? 

•	 How can we bring newcomers up to speed more quickly? 

•	 How do people spend their time individually and in groups? 

•	 Are there more effective ways to work? 

The methods helped the Coast Guard to visualize previously “hidden” work 

practices and relationships. Some became the focus for change: 

•	 The maintenance and emergency-response groups, who needed to interact, 

became neighbors, so spontaneous conversations could occur, and an informal, 

ongoing awareness of each other’s activities and events could develop. 

Common tools—such as specifications—provided a physical connection that 

reinforced the work connection, increased accuracy, and saved costs. 

•	 An open “bullpen” design in many areas with high levels of turnover among 

military staff enables new workers to learn rapidly ways to operate effectively. 

In the end, the work analysis illuminated workplace issues that drove the 

development of strategies and design tactics. These issues, along with the 

desire for improved environmental quality, led to recommendations involving 

collaboration spaces, information displays, layout, interior visibility, and 

variations in workstation furnishings to support different group-work patterns. 

The following table summarizes the key issues, workplace strategies, and 

design solutions used in the new workplace. 

34 
ALIGNING STRATEGY WITH ACTION 

WORKPLACE ISSUE Improve Tacit, Informal Learning 

STRATEGIES • Support informal learning during scheduled 

maintenance with opportunities for staff to hear, 

observe, see, and find more-experienced staff. 

DESIGN TACTICS • 

• 

• 

• 

Provide high internal visibility to support observational 

learning. 

Locate staff who need to work together in adjacent areas. 

Have an open floor plan to provide easy access to others 

for quick conversations and mentoring. 

Create shared information displays. 

WORKPLACE ISSUE Generate Common Knowledge 

STRATEGIES • 

• 

Increase shared knowledge and expertise. 

Make the capabilities of groups more broadly accessible to all. 

DESIGN TACTICS • 

• 

• 

• 

Locate branches on the same floor. 

Create common touch points. 

Display group information. 

Create shared filing. 

WORKPLACE ISSUE Improve Ad Hoc Collaboration 

STRATEGIES • 

• 

Improve the ability of groups to access and exchange 

information rapidly. 

Improve the ability of groups to meet quickly and solve 

problems. 

above:	 SHARED REFERENCE AREA ENABLES QUICK ACCESS 

TO COMMON DOCUMENTS AND REDUCES CLUTTER 

AT INDIVIDUAL WORKSTATIONS. 

35 workplace projects 
Designing for the Nature of Work 

U.S. COAST GUARD MLCP(v) 

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 

ALIGNING STRATEGY WITH ACTION 

(continued) 

DESIGN TACTICS • 

• 

• 

• 

Locate branches on the same floor. 

Locate staff who need to work together in adjacent areas. 

Provide open bullpens for groups who interact in an 

ongoing fashion. 

Provide single workstations for those doing more 

individual work. 

• Have an open floor plan to provide easy access to others 

for quick conversations and mentoring. 

WORKPLACE ISSUE Create a Workplace That Works for All Staff 

STRATEGIES • 

• 

Provide activity-appropriate work settings. 

Provide equitable access to amenities and resources. 

DESIGN TACTICS • 

• 

• 

Provide spaces for confidential and concentrated work 

as needed. 

Buffer noisy groups from those doing quiet work. 

Provide access to daylight and views for all. 

36 
top:	 PANEL DESIGN IMPROVES DAYLIGHT PENETRATION 

TO INTERIOR WHILE FACILITATING CONVERSATION. 

above:	 BULLPEN WORKSTATIONS SUPPORT NEEDS OF 

HIGHLY INTERACTIVE GROUPS. 

37 workplace projects 
38

Adapting the Workplace 


to New Ways of Working


GSA MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE 

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 

CREATING A LEARNING LABORATORY 

As the expiration of their lease term neared, the GSA Mid-Atlantic Regional 

Office began the hunt for new workspace. For many years, the office had called 

the historic Wanamaker Building in downtown Philadelphia its home. While 

the Wanamaker Building was well loved for its charm and character, GSA 

needed space that could accommodate the technology and workstyle needs 

of modern office workers. 

To understand better the requirements for such a design, GSA’s Public 

Buildings Service initiated an experiment with the GSA Mid-Atlantic Regional 

Office employees themselves acting as the customers. Prior to planning 

the buildout of a new space, the project team created a 12,000-square-foot 

“Workplace Laboratory” in their existing space. For over a year, departments 

rotated through the space for six-week to six-month stays. 

The Laboratory provided a window into the different departments’ work 

practices as well as into the effectiveness of different design solutions. For 

example, engineers and asset management associates working on complex 

building problems found they were able to identify better operational and 

fiscal solutions by physically working together. Service teams found that their 

effectiveness significantly improved by reorganizing into cross-disciplinary, 

geographically based teams and occupying a more open space that allowed 

them to collaborate easily. Nearly all staff members reported that having 

both reserved and nonreserved meeting spaces fostered more natural 

communication and teamwork. Clearly, the use of experimental demonstration 

spaces in Philadelphia provided important insights into the connections 

among spatial layout, furniture systems, and the nature of work. 

left:	 THE DATA NETWORK ACCESS (DNA) CENTER 

EXEMPLIFIES HOW A HISTORIC SPACE CAN BE 

ADAPTED TO CONTEMPORARY NEEDS. 

39 workplace projects 
Adapting the Workplace to New Ways of Working 

GSA MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE 

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: Collaborative Designs, Inc. 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 133,000 

Number of Occupants: 585 

Date Occupied: December 2002 

First Experiment, Then Build 

What began as a simple search for new office space ended up providing 

insights about interpersonal and organizational behavior. In a few groups, these 

insights became catalysts for organizational change. Although everyone knew 

the results would be used in the design of the new space, the focus during the 

experimental period was on how to improve the organization and how people 

could work together better. The idea was to inform a better design but also 

to make decisions about ways in which the organization would work effectively 

to meet clients’ needs. 

The project leadership was enthusiastic about the experiment, and the 

project team went well beyond the common mockup spaces to test comfort 

and acceptability. Testing different kinds of furnishings and layouts over an 

extended period of time provided more realistic feedback to the design team. 

In addition, the project leadership believed they gained important insights 

into the connections among spatial layout, furniture systems, and the 

nature of work. They thought the experiment helped to link organizational 

strategy and work process to the workplace. More importantly, they thought 

conducting this research prior to the design of the new space helped them 

explore the ways interaction, privacy, and technology affect their work. 

Experiments Are Worth It 

This Workplace Laboratory proved instrumental in determining the workplace 

solutions in the new building. The results are clear in the transformation 

of a new 165,000-square-foot office in a nearby 13-story historic structure. 

Built in 1931 as a department store, the Strawbridge Building offers open floor 

plates owing to its original function as a retail space. The research and the 

experience from the Workplace Laboratory led the design team to identify six 

broad workstyles, each of which required a unique spatial solution. The project 

40 
right:	 THE NEW OFFICE DESIGN EMPHASIZES case studies

FLEXIBILITY AND OPENNESS. 

overleaf:	 THE DNA CENTER SERVES AS A MULTIPURPOSE COMMUNITY HUB. 


44

team wanted to accommodate the requirements of these different work 

processes while maintaining a unified aesthetic throughout the office. The 

building’s open architecture and historic detail made it easier for the design 

team to establish a strong sense of design continuity. “In the end, we were 

able to tie very different parts of the organization together with creative 

ceiling, lighting, and carpet treatments; encouraging limited partition heights; 

and avoiding the placement of private offices on window walls,” explains 

Vija Brewer-Long, design project manager and project space planner/interior 

designer for GSA’s Public Buildings Service. 

Flexibility Made Easy 

Over the years, office occupants had grown accustomed to the high cost of 

churn in their previous space. However, the new space provided an opportunity 

to reduce such costs. “As individuals, [we move] around a lot through our 

office to meet the needs of work at any given time, aligning ourselves with 

different teams at one point or another,” explains Brewer-Long. Fortunately, the 

historic building’s generous floor-to-ceiling heights made it feasible to install 

a raised floor, so plug-and-play technology and underfloor wire management 

could be implemented. 

Come Together 

A large, historic auditorium spurred project planners to take an innovative 

approach to integrating information technology. Converted into a Data Network 

Access (DNA) Center, the former auditorium shows that historic appeal and 

contemporary needs can bond seamlessly. The space links a library and 

informal meeting areas to centralized filing and support services. Although 

the original intent was only to improve access to resources and reduce data 

management costs, the dynamic two-story DNA Center in fact set the stage 

for increased movement and collaboration across teams and departments, 

left: TASK-SPECIFIC FURNISHINGS, WORKSPACES, AND 

EQUIPMENT SUPPORT MULTIPLE WAYS OF WORKING. 

45 workplace projects 
Adapting the Workplace to New Ways of Working 

GSA MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE 

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 

My goal with this project was to use 

our need for a new space as a realtime lab, testing the edges of current 

workplace thinking, confronting the 

impacts on work systems and people, 

and creating an excellent home for 

our employees that could be used as 

a successful demonstration to our 

federal clients. 

JAN ZIEGLER 

FORMER ASSISTANT REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR 

GSA PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE, 

MID-ATLANTIC REGION 

changing the ways people work and boosting both the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. 

A key finding from the Workplace Laboratory was the value placed on the 

easy availability of meeting spaces. Designers took this challenge seriously 

and devised different solutions for different work groups based on their 

workstyles. The new office boasts 35 conference rooms, available for use by 

all groups. To encourage impromptu meetings, 24 of the rooms are smaller 

and scattered throughout the space. Evidence of success includes greater 

levels of collaboration and teamwork in support of a cross-disciplinary team 

approach. In one large group that has only one private office for nearly 

300 people, the large number and convenient locations of meeting rooms are 

essential for both privacy and reducing interruptions. The meeting rooms 

are used constantly. In areas with a greater density of private offices, the ease 

and flexibility to turn an office into a meeting room, and vice versa, increased 

the number of smaller spaces for spontaneous meetings. From an organizational standpoint, this group changed from a “stovepiped” structure based 

on job type to integrated, client-facing teams supported by technical teams. 

The changes help to achieve the organizational goals of supporting project 

integration, encouraging face-to-face interaction, and promoting cross-functional 

learning. The initial anecdotal reports show faster decision-making and better 

problem-solving. 

Critics Say... 

Interviews, surveys, an observational study, and an analysis of the new 

design’s “space syntax” were completed in 2005. Nearly all staff members 

interviewed agreed that cross-disciplinary service delivery has improved 

the quality and timing of project solutions. The observational study showed 

that although the new design provided significantly more meeting spaces, 

46 
their utilization rate also increased. The space syntax study revealed the new 

layout increased the likelihood of informal collaboration. 

However, the reviews do not show a marked increase in occupant satisfaction 

compared to satisfaction with their former space. Perhaps this is because 

the occupants liked the previous space so well or because most of the 

conditions—light, air conditioning, location, transportation—are quite similar. 

The radical furniture changes appear to have made a relatively small impression 

on the occupants, despite a reduction in the amount of space per person. 

On the other hand, another study tells us that mixed reviews today could 

turn into high praise in a few years. The important thing now is to learn from 

the experiment and continue to improve. 

CENTRALIZED FILING: A SERVICE, NOT A BOX 

For one large group, this project instituted centralized filing with a 

crucial twist. The filing system, often considered only a physical storage 

issue, was combined with maintenance service contracts. The files are 

now centrally located and they are also maintained to the standards 

set by the National Archives & Records Administration. The centralized 

filing has demonstrably changed the way people work and increased 

both efficiency and, potentially, effectiveness by reducing the cost of 

maintaining files and increasing their quality. 

A discussion of this can be found at www.gsa.gov/workplace 

47 workplace projects 
48

Transforming a Munitions Factory


Into an Award-Winning Workplace


PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL OFFICE 

DENVER, COLORADO 

HIGHLY ADAPTIVE REUSE 

Setting up an office in a former World War II munitions factory had its 

challenges. In particular, the large industrial building has such depth that 

large parts of the interior had little access to windows or daylight. Since 

the 1950s, when the building was converted into a workspace for its 

Denver Regional Office, GSA had worked around these obstacles. Over time, 

the office had been repeatedly renovated in a piecemeal fashion, with 

each change adding to a feeling of randomness. 

Despite these challenges, the site has many advantages. Structures in the 

area are low and dispersed, creating great potential for views and access 

to daylight from the building. Adjacent to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, 

the location provides ample opportunity for outdoor breaks and events. 

When the time came for a total redesign of the interior space, GSA’s Public 

Buildings Service (PBS) and its workplace consultant developed a vision for 

a world-class workplace. The result is an award-winning office space designed 

around GSA’s Hallmarks of the Productive Workplace: 

• Spatial Equity 

• Healthfulness 

• Flexibility 

• Comfort 

• Technological Connectivity 

• Reliability 

• Sense of Place 

left: A SKYLIGHT BRINGS NATURAL LIGHT TO THE 

WORKPLACE ENTRANCE. 

49 workplace projects 
Transforming a Munitions Factory Into an Award-Winning Workplace 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL OFFICE 

DENVER, COLORADO 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: Gensler 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 110,000 

Number of Occupants: 220 

Date Occupied: 2005 (phase 1) 

This project won the Best Workplace 

Solution award for 2005 from the 

CoreNet MidAtlantic chapter. 

Envisioning the Future 

The process started with GSA’s workplace consulting team meeting with 

managers and staff in a series of focus groups. Among the goals the team 

identified to guide the new workspace design: 

• Showcase a design solution that supports business functions. 

• Use the workplace to attract and retain talent. 

• Create a quality work environment that reduces workplace stress. 

• Facilitate interaction, communication, and collaboration. 

• Establish a “small town” look and feel. 

• Maintain flexibility, efficiency, and adaptability. 

• Demonstrate progressive leadership. 

Getting to the final plan involved extensive consensus building. One team 

member noted, “There were many, many opportunities for this project to die. 

What we learned about putting together the right expertise from the start 

has helped us learn how to better serve our own customers.” 

A Good Beginning 

For nearly 50 years, the building had a small lobby with a stairway leading 

to a long corridor. The project team wanted the beginning of the renovation 

process to signal the larger transformation to come. As a part of GSA’s “First 

Impressions” program, they chose a design that flooded the lobby with daylight; 

they placed a spacious, informal meeting area at the top of the staircase; 

and they positioned a café and conference rooms immediately adjacent to the 

formal reception area. The initial renovation greatly exceeded expectations. 

The meeting area has become a hot spot for informal conversations between 

managers and associates owing to the frequent, spontaneous interactions that 

occur in this comfortable central location. Visitors no longer wander aimlessly 

through the GSA space because a receptionist greets and assists them. 

50 
NATURAL LIGHT BRIGHTENS COMMON 

SPACES THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING, 

INCLUDING THIS RENOVATED STAIRWAY. 
52 
I’m totally amazed by the 

transformation of the space and 

its impact on our people. 

PAUL PROUTY 

ASSISTANT REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR 

From Isolation to Integration 

Prior to the renovation, long hallways lined with private workspaces visually 

isolated workers from one another. The endless corridors made spontaneous 

interactions rare, consistent with the well-known research finding that people 

seldom walk more than 100 feet to talk to someone at work. 

The project team had hypothesized early on that if internal working relationships 

among staff improved, the quality of customer service would also improve. 

Therefore, the office environment was restructured so the staff could see one 

another and circulation would encourage chance encounters. 

Meeting rooms in the unrenovated space were mostly dark and frequently 

unavailable. The rooms were often uncomfortably large. The new space was 

therefore designed to incorporate a greater number of different meeting spaces. 

Large conference rooms are clustered together and changed from being 

“owned” by small groups to being available to all. They are now technologically 

well equipped and available through a central scheduling service. Numerous 

small, enclosed spaces are distributed among the private work areas. They 

offer an easy way for spontaneous conversations to transition into more in-depth 

discussions in spaces with appropriate acoustical privacy. 

From Darkness to Delight 

One of the design objectives from the outset was to overcome the limitations 

of a deep floor plate and create equitable access to daylight. Private offices 

were relocated to the interior and have transparent walls. Workstations with 

partially glazed panels open up views and daylight to all. Additional light 

comes from large skylights strategically placed above common spaces, such 

as the building entrance, the new café, and a social area carved out of a 

previously dark and remote warehouse space. 

left: DAYLIGHT MAKES THE CAFÉ A MORE ATTRACTIVE 

PLACE TO RELAX. 

53 workplace projects 
Transforming a Munitions Factory Into an Award-Winning Workplace 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL OFFICE 

DENVER, COLORADO 

There were many, many opportunities 

for this project to die. What we 

learned about putting together the 

right expertise from the start 

has helped us learn how to better 

serve our own customers. 

KIM BAILEY, PBS PROJECT TEAM 

This social area, known as “the P.I.T.” (People Interacting Together), epitomizes 

the power of daylight. Most of the space, which would have been remote 

from daylight, is illuminated by a skylight, and light cascades down two stories 

through the stairs. The recreation space houses televisions, couches, a pool 

table, a workout facility, a locker room, and conference rooms. Given that 

the PBS staff bought the furnishings and equipment with proceeds from bake 

sales and other fundraising efforts, the space fosters a sense of pride and 

ownership. The space is heavily used for its intended purpose—reducing work 

stress and encouraging relaxed enjoyment with colleagues. Unexpectedly, 

the day-lit area—a dark recess of the interior before the insertion of the 

skylight—has become a favorite location for informal meetings. Environmental 

psychologist Judith Heerwagen notes that the skylights create pools of natural 

light throughout the day, adding sensory variability, stimulating visual interest, 

and drawing people together. 

Checking In 

Workplace design can influence functional behaviors, but can it be a catalyst 

for the kind of social change the Denver PBS office wanted to encourage? 

Can organizations use the environment to improve the sense of community, 

increase morale, reduce stress, and develop cross-group relationships? 

Observable indicators are affirmative. An evaluation program is under way to 

measure outcomes, and preliminary results are positive. Key findings from a Webbased survey and social network analysis show that, compared with other federal 

workspaces studied by GSA, the new Denver workplace provides the following: 

• A stronger sense of community 

• Better opportunities to develop friendships 

54 
•

•

•

•

•

• Higher levels of information sharing and awareness 

• More looking forward to seeing people at work 

Social network analysis also shows high interconnections among groups located 

in different parts of the building and high levels of face-to-face interaction. 

In fact, face-to-face interactions have become more prevalent than e-mail or 

phone calls, a highly unusual finding. 

Final results from the project evaluation will be available in 2007, including 

findings from a study of worker stress conducted by researchers at the 

National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. 

PROJECT RESEARCH 

GSA is conducting extensive research on the Denver project to assess 


organizational and human factors outcomes. Research methods and


teams include the following:


Social network analysis (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory).


Physical measures of ambient conditions (Carnegie Mellon University).


Workplace satisfaction and work experiences (University of California,


Berkeley).


Space syntax analysis (Georgia Institute of Technology).


Occupant stress (National Institutes of Health).


above: SHOOTING BASKETS IN THE P.I.T. 55 workplace projects 
56

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL OFFICE 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

People, Process, Place


FOCUSING ON THE CUSTOMER 

The redesign of GSA’s Public Buildings Service regional office in Chicago 

coincided with the arrival of a new Senior Executive and plans for a major 

reorganization. This situation could have created organizational chaos. Instead, 

it became the catalyst for a new strategic direction. The goal: to be more 

customer focused in all aspects of work. 

Organizational and workplace changes co-evolved to achieve this goal. 

The organizational challenge was strong. The organization had been consistently 

among the top-performing in the country, but recent performance had slipped. 

A key insight was that the organization hadn’t really performed less well, 

but rather the rest of the country had improved, and by comparison their 

performance was no longer at the top. This gave the impetus to establish the 

goal of both performing well and steadily improving performance over time. 

The leadership team also realized that goal attainment would depend upon 

regaining lost expertise and the team’s ability to anticipate and proactively 

respond to customer demands. 

The organizational strategy developed by PBS and the WorkPlace consultant 

centered on changing critical work processes that would support customer 

focus. Key components of the strategy were: 

•	 Shift from a “command and control” structure to an integrated, collaborative 

structure. 

•	 Become a more effective learning organization to understand and anticipate 

customer needs. 

•	 Focus on the core values of the business and create an environment that 

promotes worker engagement, productivity, and optimal workplace delivery. 

left: CREATING GREAT PLACES TO WORK: DAYLIGHT, 

VIEWS, AND WORKSPACE COME TOGETHER. 

57 workplace projects 
People, Process, Place 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL OFFICE 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 90,000 

(38,000 in phases 1 & 2) 

Number of Occupants: 425 

(210 in phases 1 & 2) 

Date Occupied: June 2006 

The challenge facing PBS was heightened by the fact that the office is 

housed in one of the Chicago’s most revered buildings—the John C. Kluczynski 

Federal Building designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The PBS team 

wanted the interior space to reflect the form and aesthetic of the building’s 

design while updating the functionality of the space to align explicitly with the 

organization’s business goals. 

Understanding the Organization 

The GSA WorkPlace consultant conducted an in-depth analysis of the 

organization and its work patterns. Methods included interviews, focus groups, 

surveys, cultural analysis, and observations of space use. 

Interviews with managers showed that work was rapidly moving toward 

multidisciplinary teams, multiple tasks, variable schedules, and more focus 

on projects, and these changes linked people to a greater variety of places. 

Systematic observations conducted over several weeks showed that office 

spaces were empty 60 percent of the time on average. Ninety-six percent of 

survey respondents stated that there were not enough conference rooms, yet 

direct observation showed that the conference rooms were empty 70 percent 

of the time even though people complained about not being able to find 

a room when needed. 

The new design grows directly from this research. For example, meeting room 

observations revealed several problems. First, conference rooms were regularly 

used for a limited part of the day (mostly from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and were 

largely empty late in the afternoon and first thing in the morning. Second, 

observations showed that most meetings consisted of two to four people in 

58 
This graph shows office use over the course of a work 

day. The data represent average patterns of office use 

over the course of two weeks. 

TIME/SPACE UTILIZATION SURVEY DATA 

100% 

90% 

80% 

70% 

ANCY 

60% 

OCCUP

50% 

40% 

30% 

20% 

09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 

At work, but 

not at desk 

10% 

At desk 

0% 

08:00 

TIME 

GSA HAS PERFORMED TIME/SPACE UTILIZATION 59 workplace projects 

SURVEYS (T/SUs) IN MORE THAN 20 FEDERAL 

WORKPLACES. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT STAFF 

ARE TYPICALLY SEATED AT THEIR DESKS LESS 

THAN ONE-THIRD OF THE AVERAGE WORK DAY. 
People, Process, Place 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL OFFICE 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

Systematic observations over several 

weeks showed that cubicles and 

offices were empty nearly two-thirds 

of the time. Why? Employees are 

often away from their desks, in 

meetings or collaborating with team 

members on- or off-site. This finding 

is a very common observation in 

offices worldwide. 

rooms designed for 10 or more. Third, no reservation system showed which 

rooms were available, and the rooms were spread over 10 floors in a high-rise 

building. Fourth, individual conference rooms were “owned” by subgroups, 

which controlled access and use. To resolve these issues, the new design 

provides more meeting spaces, which are designed for the types of meetings 

people have, and a centralized reservation system. This provides better meeting 

space at less cost and allows everyone access to the common resource. 

A “culture card” exercise found that team leaders and professional staff 

perceived the current culture as chaotic and reactive with unpredictable 

outcomes, misaligned goals, and lack of clear organization. Their desired future 

culture? More team-oriented, organized, strong, able to overcome obstacles, 

and more willing to take risks. The desired future culture was clearly in 

line with the strategic vision of senior leadership. 

The organizational analysis resulted in a strategy matrix linking organizational 

goals, desired changes in work processes, workplace strategy to achieve 

the goals, and measures of success. The matrix provides a snapshot of the 

workplace project and ensures that high-level organizational goals and work 

process changes are not lost as the project moves from an organizational 

focus to design development and implementation. 

The table on the following page shows a portion of the matrix for the organizational goal “Improve understanding of customer needs.” 

60 
LINKING WORK-PROCESS CHANGE TO MEASURES OF SUCCESS 

WORK PROCESS CHANGE Better project integration and coordination across groups 

WORKPLACE STRATEGY AND SOLUTIONS • 

• 

Improve awareness and informal communication by reducing internal barriers. 

Support group work by providing a greater variety of shared meeting spaces. 

MEASURES OF SUCCESS • 

• 

Improvements in communication and interaction within and across groups. 

Improved customer satisfaction. 

WORK PROCESS CHANGE More sharing of customer knowledge 

WORKPLACE STRATEGY AND SOLUTIONS • 

• 

Encourage information sharing and integration of information about project 

status by providing centralized project files. 

Support internal work flexibility and mobility with wireless technology. 

MEASURES OF SUCCESS • 

• 

• 

Timeliness of project progress and completion. 

Improved customer satisfaction. 

Improved knowledge of customer. 

The client engagement process, conducted over a period of several months, 

led to a comprehensive workplace strategy: 

•	 Create a culture and work processes that are more collaborative and geared 

toward achieving common goals. 

•	 Use the workplace to convey the organization’s values and demonstrate its 

expertise to customers. 

above:	 IMPROMPTU CONVERSATIONS CREATE 

CONVIVIALITY AND INCREASE KNOWLEDGE 

TRANSFER. 

61 workplace projects 
62

•	 Increase flexibility to support changing work processes and demonstrate 

efficient use of space and resources. 

•	 Maximize the ability to communicate with colleagues in person and virtually. 

•	 Improve individual and group effectiveness and learning. 

Projecting the Past Into the Future 

To express this strategy, the project team wanted visitors to feel as if they were 

walking into the future when they entered the new workplace. At the same 

time, they wanted the design to honor the architectural philosophy of Mies 

van der Rohe. Robert Theel, the PBS regional chief architect, described the 

ways that workplace goals were translated into design concepts by project 

architect Julie Snow: “Her concept focused on using simple, elegant materials 

to create planes of glass and curves of wood that defined the space and also 

opened up views to the outside.” 

The transformation has been remarkable. Perimeter private offices had long 

obscured views of Lake Michigan from a chaotic sea of jumbled, dark cubicles. 

Walk through the renovated space, however, and your first observation will 

likely be how light permeates the space, conveying a sense of transparency. 

This feeling grows from the central concept of the new design: Relocate private 

officers to the building core and finish them in glass and wood. Establish 

a universal plan for workstations with state-of-the-art ergonomic design and 

low partitions along the perimeter. Place major conference rooms in prime 

“corner office” space; place a diverse selection of group and team meeting 

spaces along clear circulation routes. Balance the need to provide tight 

security with the expression of openness and accessibility to visitors. 

left: NEW WORKSTATIONS PROMOTE CONCENTRATION 

AND ENABLE DAYLIGHT TO PENETRATE SPACE. 

63 workplace projects 
People, Process, Place 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL OFFICE 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

Making New Ways of Working Real 

Visually, the design has lived up to its aims. The intent of the project team, 

however, went beyond physical design. Assistant Regional Administrator 

David Hood summarized this broader aspiration: “to dramatically change and 

effect organizational development through this design process.” A program 

of post-occupancy research is under way to measure success. Initial reports 

are glowing. Many praise the variety of large and small, formal and informal 

meeting spaces integrated throughout the new plan as “striking just the 

right balance.” A centralized filing system has reduced clutter in individual 

workspaces and also has proved a significant aid for project management and 

information sharing. Low partitions are applauded for promoting more natural 

communication and teamwork. The commitment by managers to move to 

inboard offices has knocked down traditional barriers between supervisors 

and staff and enhanced project acceptance. A member of the project team 

summed up the project: “Our new workplace is striking. A blend of efficiency, 

functionality, and beauty.” 

64 
top:	 NEW OFFICE PROVIDES MULTIPLICITY OF MEETING 

SPACES—LARGE AND SMALL, FORMAL AND INFORMAL. 

above:	 LOWERED PARTITIONS PROMOTE IMPROMPTU 

COLLABORATION AT DESK. 

65 workplace projects 
66 
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

RICHLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE 

RICHLAND, WASHINGTON 

Using Cost Reduction to Create 

a Better Place to Work 

REDUCING COSTS, 

IMPROVING THE WORKPLACE 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) field office in Richland, Washington, 

wanted to reduce rental costs. Discussions with GSA showed that DOE 

could reduce rental costs by $250,000 to $1 million a year and create a 

better workplace. 

The nine reactors at the Hanford site, near the Columbia River in Richland, 

Washington, have been closed for nearly 30 years, but 56 million gallons 

of radioactive waste remain, along with 2,300 tons of spent nuclear fuel 

and 25 tons of plutonium. DOE employees are in charge of supervising the 

cleanup. A more effective workplace will better support the DOE mission 

in Richland. 

Starting With Organizational Goals 

The WorkPlace consulting team began with group exercises designed to 

encourage people to think creatively about the organization, its work, and its 

vision of the future, rather than the thorny issues of who gets an office and 

window space. 

The team used cultural metaphors—pictures of cars, animals, athletic 

games—to describe attributes of the current organization and what they would 

like it to be. The workplace consultant later noted, “There was no argument 

about where they were and where they needed to be.” Everyone agreed that 

they needed to break out of their silos and form integrated project teams; 

that they had to form a more networked community; and that, while they had 

technical expertise, they needed to be more cross-functional. 

The WorkPlace consulting team then used a Balanced Scorecard exercise to 

identify additional goals and to link these to workplace strategies. 

top left:	 ENTRANCE LOBBY REDESIGN WILL IMPROVE 

THE WORKPLACE IMAGE DRAMATICALLY. 

left:	 NO LONGER WINDOWLESS, NEW ELEVATOR


LOBBIES WILL BRING NATURAL LIGHT INTO


THE WORKPLACE.


67 workplace projects 
Using Cost Reduction to Create a Better Place to Work 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

RICHLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE 

RICHLAND, WASHINGTON 

PROJECT BALANCED SCORECARD 

Customer Service 

BUSINESS GOALS • 

• 

• 

Increase the visibility of DOE results. 

Make it easier to find the way around the office. 

Provide accommodation for visitors. 

• Improve DOE’s image. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • Provide internal “results walls.” 

• 

• 

Create a more logical grid. 

Provide team suites and space for visitors to work before and after meetings 

with DOE officials. 

• Create a forward-looking, professional workplace. 

Financial 

BUSINESS GOALS • Reduce rent costs. 

• Reduce churn costs. 

• Reduce operating costs. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • 

• 

• 

• 

Simplify workstations and improve flexibility to reduce churn costs. 

Use energy-efficient technologies. 

Reduce the amount of space DOE occupies in the building. 

Free up space for use by other Federal tenants. 

Business Process 

BUSINESS GOALS • Facilitate collaboration. 

• 

• 

• 

Improve group interaction. 

Maintain appropriate security. 

Support flexibility. 

THE PROJECT BALANCED SCORECARD SHOWS 

BUSINESS GOALS AND WORKPLACE STRATEGIES FOR 

THE RICHLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE. 

68 
WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • Provide more collaborative spaces. 

• Provide “war room” spaces to support specific ongoing project work. 

• Secure DOE space at the perimeter. 

• Provide a universal modular plan. 

Human Capital


BUSINESS GOALS • Encourage communication.


• Improve morale. 

• Support individual effectiveness. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • Provide project rooms. 

• Provide spontaneous meeting space. 

• Create social spaces and amenities. 

• Improve access to daylight and views. 

• Provide enclosed spaces for privacy and concentration as needed. 

A Walk Through the Current Workplace 

So what aspects of the existing space could be improved? The team conducted 

an analysis of the current workplace, particularly identifying problems and 

constraints that make it difficult to achieve the organizational goals. A key 

component of this analysis was a comprehensive observation of the ways people 

were using all the spaces in the building during different times of the day 

and week. Direct observations, collected multiple times a day over the course 

of a week, provided objective data about the use of workplaces that informed 

suggestions for greater effectiveness. The data also pointed out possibilities 

for significant cost savings. The analysis resulted in several key insights: 

69 workplace projects 
Using Cost Reduction to Create a Better Place to Work 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

RICHLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE 

RICHLAND, WASHINGTON 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: HOK Advance 

Strategies 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: To be determined 

Number of Occupants: 270 

Date Occupied: To be determined 

•	 Long hallways inhibited informal cross-group communication. 

•	 Spaces for relaxed socialization were virtually nonexistent. 

•	 The layout kept people isolated from one another. 

•	 Private offices along the exterior wall created a warren of windowless 

interior spaces. 

•	 Many spaces were used for ad hoc storage. 

•	 Many spaces were seldom used. 

The space analysis also showed that unplanned changes over the years 

disguised the 1960s-era building’s potential to provide a high-quality work 

environment. Offices had been subdivided and cubicles with high partitions 

were added as needed, creating a mazelike environment. It was hard to find 

your way around the office and even more difficult to visualize it any differently. 

GSA building management highlighted the possibilities by removing the 

high partitions of a relatively small, unoccupied space. The empty space was 

an eye-opener for DOE. The daylight, views, and feeling of expansiveness 

conveyed a sense of possibility that had been hidden for decades. This opened 

up the dialogue for a much more extensive discussion about the workplace 

as a business asset. 

Creating a Vision for the Future 

Using the Balanced Scorecard as a framework, the WorkPlace team briefed both 

the client and the design architect on the findings, and a vision began to 

emerge. Working together, the workplace consultant and the architect developed 

a design scheme that separates quiet work from interactive work. It would 

also transform the current closed-office configuration into a more visually open 

space with more opportunities for interaction. Many studies have shown 

that wide circulation paths and internal views help people orient themselves 

70 
REMOVING A MAZE OF PARTITIONS WILL BRING 

EMPLOYEES GREATER ACCESS TO LIGHT AND VIEWS. 

71 workplace projects 
Using Cost Reduction to Create a Better Place to Work 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

RICHLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE 

RICHLAND, WASHINGTON 

The GSA WorkPlace consultant 

was invaluable at making sense of 

an organization that was so complex 

as to be almost unfathomable. 

The consultant provided information 

that the typical architect's office is 

not geared up to provide at the 

beginning of the project where it 

really counts. 

PETER PFAU 

ARCHITECT FOR THE MASTER PLAN 

in large spaces so they can navigate through a complex floor plan. The design 

maintains private offices to support analytical and confidential work, but 

it opens up multiple-view corridors for enhanced daylight and connection to 

the outdoors. 

The plan disperses a wide variety of meeting spaces, from dedicated project 

rooms to scheduled and unscheduled meeting rooms, throughout the office to 

foster better staff communication and face-to-face collaboration. A “community 

center” with a reception area and display walls introduces visitors to the 

office. The intended effect is to achieve an enhanced “neighborhood” feeling, 

even though staff would be condensed onto fewer floors. 

After the final briefing by the WorkPlace consultant, the team convened for a 

design “charette”—an intense working session designed to solidify the design 

concept. 

Moving Forward 

The organizational and workplace analysis, coupled with the design charette, 

provided a clear design direction for change organized around four critical goals: 

•	 Create environments for communicating and sharing knowledge. 

•	 Improve workplace quality and image. 

•	 Balance security and accessibility. 

•	 Consolidate into flexible space that allows teams to form and dissolve around 

specific work issues. 

The Value Propositions 

Because GSA’s WorkPlace strategic consulting process carefully analyzed 

the nature of work at the Richland office, the workplace solutions have the 

72 
potential to increase work performance as well as to meet the financial goals 

that initiated the project. The redesign will exceed the original goals, but at 

lower costs to both DOE and the taxpayers: 

1	 DOE will move into a space with the potential to improve the effectiveness 

of a complex organization with a critical mission. 

2	 DOE could save from $250,000 to $1 million annually in rent costs depending 

upon final design choices. The savings provide a solid financial justification 

for making the workplace improvements to support the accomplishment of 

its mission. 

3	 Given that the space left over from the DOE consolidation would be available 

to another federal agency, GSA would be renovating the building for more 

than one tenant. This would save taxpayers money and improve the workplace 

for multiple agencies at the same time. 

top:	 NATURAL LIGHTING WILL TRANSFORM THE EXISTING 

CAFETERIA INTO A SPACE FOR EATING AND GATHERING. 

above:	 CLOISTERED OFFICES WILL DISAPPEAR TO MAKE 

WAY FOR OPEN, INTERACTIVE OFFICES. 

73 workplace projects 
74

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER 

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 

A Small Project Makes a Big Impact


CREATING A SHOWCASE FOR CHANGE 

A small office project can pilot the way to innovative solutions and create 

a large impact. A visionary project manager seized such an opportunity in the 

redesign of a small GSA Public Buildings Service (PBS) office in San Antonio, 

Texas. The resulting design is widely praised as more functional, more collaborative, more flexible, and more beautiful than the old space. 

Leading by Example 

The PBS Customer Service Center in downtown San Antonio helps Federal 

clients to find, build, and renovate office space. Both clients and people 

doing business with the center frequently visited, and the Service Center staff 

were increasingly concerned that the aging workplace did not convey an image 

that inspired confidence in their customers, nor did it support their own work 

needs. They wanted to redesign the space to showcase GSA’s understanding 

that new ways of working have transformed the workplace. They also needed 

to protect the confidentiality of Government contracts from the stream of 

visitors. Even though the project appeared small, the multiple and potentially 

conflicting business goals made it a great way to gain insight into how a 

renovation project can deliver space that improves the organization’s effectiveness and enhances its efficiency in a way appropriate to contemporary work. 

The Launch 

The GSA WorkPlace consulting team kicked off the project by working with 

the organization to identify business goals for the Service Center using a 

Balanced Scorecard approach. 

left: THE CONFERENCE ROOM’S CURVING WALL REFLECTS 

SAN ANTONIO’S RIVER WALK. 

75 workplace projects 
A Small Project Makes a Big Impact 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER 

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 

PROJECT BALANCED SCORECARD 

Customer Service 

BUSINESS GOALS • 

• 

Create smooth working relationships with customers. 

Generate new business and retain existing customers. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • 

• 

Create more pleasant spaces to meet with customers. 

Use the office as a showcase for new thinking and ways of working, 

and as a demonstration of expertise. 

Financial 

BUSINESS GOAL • Reduce operating costs. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • 

• 

• 

• 

Simplify workstations. 

Improve flexibility to reduce churn costs. 

Reduce energy costs. 

Improve space use. 

Business Process 

BUSINESS GOALS • 

• 

• 

• 

Improve the ability to work together. 

Improve ability to share information and knowledge. 

Provide the flexibility for future changes in ways of working. 

Improve the security of Government contracting process. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • 

• 

• 

Create a variety of meeting places. 

Arrange the space to provide visual and architectural cues that there 

are private and public zones. 

Use furniture that can be easily rearranged to adapt space to changing 

group needs. 

THE PROJECT BALANCED SCORECARD SHOWS 

BUSINESS GOALS AND WORKPLACE STRATEGIES FOR 

THE SAN ANTONIO CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER. 

76 
Human Capital


BUSINESS GOALS • Create closer working relationships.


•	 Improve workplace satisfaction. 

•	 Support knowledge sharing. 

•	 Increase the value of the space to all. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • Improve comfort and aesthetics. 

•	 Create a positive sense of place. 

•	 Provide places to relax. 

•	 Provide spaces for both collaboration and concentration. 

•	 Provide broader access to natural light and views. 

•	 Provide translucent and transparent glass to allow both privacy 

and visual connection. 

Through a subsequent series of focus groups, the Balanced Scorecard goals 

were distilled into five key project objectives: 

•	 Provide model offices to demonstrate to customers the high-quality workplaces 

PBS can deliver. 

•	 Promote workplace efficiencies. 

•	 Project a professional, dynamic image of GSA. 

•	 Provide associates with a choice of work environments. 

•	 Highlight the use of innovative and sustainable (green) construction materials. 

Workplace Solutions and Implementation 

The consulting team then studied associates’ work habits. Time studies 

documented adjacencies, patterns of comings and goings, the places people 

77 workplace projects 
A Small Project Makes a Big Impact 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER 

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 5,800 

Number of Occupants: 13 

Date Occupied: May 2006 

78 

did their work, as well as the ways employees interacted with customers. 

Observation of the ways people worked—which is often quite different from 

what is reported—led to a significantly different space concept. Rather 

than trying to accommodate the variety of distinctly different work the group 

performs with open workstations, the new idea was to use different spaces 

for different tasks, such as writing, team meetings, informal socializing, and 

meetings with contractors. Five key design criteria resulted from the combination 

of organizational goals and work observation: 

• Choice of work environments 

• Openness and light 

• Contemporary workplace promoting creativity 

• Festive colors reflecting the spirit of San Antonio 

• Water themes or patterns symbolizing the San Antonio River Walk 

The space concepts promote a workplace tailored to the way work gets 

done. The design improves internal visibility, based on research evidence that 

shows a connection between high visual access to the environment and 

improved communication. In the old workspace, partitions created corridors 

and attempted to provide privacy. However, workers still complained about 

distractions and the lack of voice privacy. In the new layout, the space is more 

open, enabling workers to see one another. Enclosed meeting rooms provide 

conversational privacy as needed. 

The new office is also a showcase of environmentally responsible design. 

The design uses environmentally friendly materials, for example, the fabrics 

for chairs. It uses—as much as possible—GREENGUARD1 certified products, 

which have been tested by a third party to ensure their chemical and particle 

emissions meet pollutant guidelines and standards. 

1 GREENGUARD IS A SERVICE MARK OF THE 

GREENGUARD ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE, INC. 
above: THE OPEN ARRANGEMENT OF OFFICES AND 

MEETING AREAS IN THE RENOVATED WORKSPACE. 

79 workplace projects 

The design avoids materials with chlorine and plasticizers, which have been 

shown to have a negative impact on human health. The paint selections 

contain extremely low quantities of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 

therefore have correspondingly low odor levels. These decisions reflect GSA’s 

commitment to both the environment and the health and comfort of occupants. 

The new floor plans show many additional improvements over the old floor plans: 

•	 Private work areas are separated from a public area that has meeting spaces, 

so the confidential work is protected. 

•	 There is a greater variety of meeting spaces, both enclosed and open, 

because observations showed the need. 

•	 Teaming areas are adjacent to workstations for easy access. 

•	 Private offices are along the interior wall, so daylight and views are more 

widely available to all. 

•	 Simplified, flexible workstations allow personalization of layouts. 

A break area was relocated from a windowless interior space to a corner with 

expansive views of the city, so it is more conducive to social interaction. 

Creating a Sense of Place 

The new design enhances functionality and also incorporates the staff’s 

design preferences. During meetings with the WorkPlace consultants, the 

staff expressed a strong desire for the Service Center design to reflect 

their South Texas location. As a result, the new space has a swirling carpet 

left:	 REGIONAL IDENTITY CONVEYED THROUGH CARPET 

PATTERN AND GLASS WALL. 

above:	 PHOTOS TAKEN FROM THE RECEPTION AREA COMPARE 

THE OLD AND NEW SPACES. 

81 workplace projects 
A Small Project Makes a Big Impact 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER 

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 

THE HEAD OF THE OFFICE, JOHN 

CARSON, WAS SO PLEASED WITH THE 

WORKPLACE THAT HE SENT A BOUQUET 

OF FLOWERS TO THE GSA REGION 7 

PROJECT MANAGER. WHEN CARSON 

RECEIVED A THANK-YOU NOTE, 

HE REPLIED: 

The feeling you had when you saw 

the flowers is how I feel every 

morning when I enter the office. 

It is awesome and much of that is 

due to your dedication, talent, 

and vision. I was skeptical about 

many of the finish selections... 

but this place just blows me away 

and has made me a believer. 

pattern and a curving blue-green glass wall in the public space to symbolize 

flowing water as well as a meandering pathway to represent San Antonio’s 

River Walk. Visitors may see these features as simple choices, but to the 

occupants, the design clearly indicates the importance of their preferences, 

fostering a sense of pride and ownership. 

Response to the New Space 

The managers and staff in the office have responded positively to the space. 

Their enthusiasm results in part from their deep involvement in the renovation 

process and commitment to making the space work for them. A GSA client 

who saw a presentation on the new workplace asked the head of the office 

when there would be an opening. He replied that they were planning to have 

an open house in a couple of weeks and would be sure to invite her. She 

answered, “No. That’s not what I mean. I want to know when you have a job 

opening. I would love to work in this space.” 

82 
above:	 GLASS ALLOWS DAYLIGHT TO PENETRATE THE 

WORKPLACE WHILE PROVIDING APPROPRIATE 

LEVELS OF PRIVACY. 

83 workplace projects 
84

—

Complexity Simplified


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO 

DELIVERING AN IMPROVED 


SOLICITATION FOR OFFER


The method GSA uses for 

lease/construction projects 

is to secure an assignable 

option for a site. This enables 

more developers to compete 

on the things that matter 

the ways the building is 

built, how much it will cost, 

and the ways it will support 

the work of the agency. 

Traditionally, a developer 

would have proposed both 

a site and a building, and GSA 

and its client would have 

often faced difficult compromises, having to pick the 

best site with a poor building, 

or vice versa. By separating 

the decisions, the government 

obtains the best site and 

the best developer/building 

team. 

GSA uses four principal methods of procuring new space for our client agencies: 

renovate existing space; lease space in an existing building; construct a 

new building; or build-to-suit with a lease/construction strategy. GSA is finding 

that a growing number of its clients can best be served by using lease/ 

construction. One such agency is the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear 

Security Administration in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Under the lease/construction method, a private developer designs and builds 

a new building which is then leased back to the Government for a prescribed 

number of years. The process begins with a solicitation for offer (SFO) that 

goes out to the development community for bid. The process can be highly 

efficient in terms of time and money. It can provide best value to federal 

agencies and the American taxpayer because the developer provides funding 

for design and construction and a fixed, long-term rent. However, there are 

trade-offs. To avoid unanticipated change orders and an escalation in rent, 

it is essential that the project’s requirements be clearly and comprehensively 

stated in the contract. Moreover, unlike a traditional design, where the 

architect and the owner develop the design over time, the SFO process is 

a design/build arrangement, where contractually stated criteria are the sole 

basis for client input into the building’s design. 

Making the Case 

In 2002, the National Nuclear Security Administration Service Center 

(NNSA-SC) began an organizational restructuring, which is still being completed. 

Approximately 800 staff were consolidated into 30 former military dormitories 

on the Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The separated 

and largely makeshift workspaces as well as the outdated infrastructure have 

been a significant barrier to the organization’s achieving its mission. Recognizing 

that the agency has undergone profound changes, including downsizing, 

left: SKETCHES CREATED DURING THE DEEP DIVE HELP 

CLIENTS TO VISUALIZE DESIGN POSSIBILITIES. 

85 workplace projects 
Complexity Simplified 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW 

Project Type: New building 

Square Feet: Approximately 160,000 

Number of Occupants: 800 

Date Occupied: To be determined 

consolidation, and major role redefinition, management thought that it was 

urgent to uncover current attitudes and work practices and address them in 

the design of a new facility. 

Settling on the lease/construction option as the best route for procuring a 

cost-effective, sustainable workplace, the NNSA-SC turned to the GSA 

WorkPlace consulting team to help optimize the SFO process. The findings 

and recommendations of the WorkPlace consulting process will be integrated 

into a standard solicitation for offer (by reference), and will also be used to 

document the case for a prospectus lease to Congress in a robust way, thereby 

increasing the chances that the project will receive funding. 

Creating a Strategic SFO 

Service Center staff, the workplace consultant, and GSA worked together 

to develop a vision of the future workplace. This vision was developed during 

an intensive two-week onsite analysis of the NNSA’s Service Center, its 

business goals, current challenges, and visions for a new workplace, from 

which a briefing document was produced. Understanding a complex organization 

in two weeks’ time is a daunting task. It required intensive data gathering, 

observations, interviews, and focus groups to identify cultural characteristics, 

individual and group work practices, and space utilization patterns. When 

one looks at the organizational diagram, it seems incredibly complicated, but 

the tools deployed made understanding it feasible. At the briefing presentation, 

there was a clear consensus among the leadership that the consultants had 

clearly understood the organization and its future needs. 

86 
165


155


145


135


125


115


105


95


85


75


65


55


45


1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 

Government Owned 

Leased 

, IN MILLIONS SQUARE FEET

FISCAL YEAR 

Leased space has increased dramatically as a 

proportion of the GSA real-estate portfolio during 

the past three decades. 

FEDERAL TRENDS IN OWNED AND LEASED SPACE 1972–2004 

87 workplace projects 
Department 1 

Department 2 

Department 3 

Department 4 

Department 5 

Department 6 

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 

Meeting Oriented 

Informal Teaming 

Paper Oriented 

Phone Oriented 

Computer Oriented 

Nonmobile Unclassified 

Work styles characterize the way employees spend 

their typical workday. WorkPlace consultants synthesize 

information gathered from Web-based and time/space 

utilization surveys, focus groups, and interviews 

to develop design requirements that will improve the 

work environment. 

WORK STYLES BY DEPARTMENT 

AT NNSA, THE WORKPLACE TEAM IDENTIFIED 

SIX WORK STYLES, AND THEN IDENTIFIED THE 

RELATIVE DISTRIBUTION OF THESE ACTIVITIES 

BY DEPARTMENT. DEPARTMENT NAMES ARE 

OMITTED FOR SECURITY. 

88 
3

FROM WORK STYLES TO NEIGHBORHOOD 

Department 1 

THIS FLOORPLAN ILLUSTRATES A WORKSPACE 

LAYOUT WELL SUITED TO THE TYPICAL WORKDAY 

ACTIVITIES OF “DEPARTMENT 1,” WHERE A PHONE 

AND PAPER-ORIENTED WORKSTYLE PREDOMINATE. 

89 workplace projects 
Complexity Simplified 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO 

The NNSA is a semi-autonomous 

agency that carries out the national 

security responsibilities of the 

U.S. Department of Energy. It maintains 

the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, 

promotes international nuclear 

nonproliferation, and provides the 

U.S. Navy with safe and effective 

nuclear propulsion. 

Contingent upon Congressional approval of the prospectus, the SFO will include 

by reference the workplace consultant’s findings and recommendations on: 

•	 Individual and group workstyles with implications for spatial needs 

•	 Work group adjacencies and relationships 

•	 Identification of features and attributes for public spaces and for spaces 

with high security needs 

•	 Organizational culture and ways it can be supported through design 

•	 Value of the new facility to the organization 

•	 Identification of desired ambient conditions, including lighting, acoustics, 

thermal conditions, and air quality 

•	 The nature and organization of desired workspaces 

The SFO for the NNSA building also calls for continued interaction between 

the workplace consultant and the project architect to ensure that the final 

design incorporates the findings from the organizational analysis. By ensuring 

that a solid transfer of this understanding is transmitted to the developer’s 

architect, the Government will be able to reap all of the benefits of lease/ 

construction and will really get a building that suits the organization. 

90 
Conservative 

Existing Traits 

Ideal Traits 

Playful 

Familiar 

Bold 

Emotional Individual 

Formal Intense 

Novel Varied 

Serious 

Consistent 

Calm Casual 

Collective Logical 

20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 

This chart indicates percentage of employees who 

identified each of the workplace attributes, shown below, 

to describe their existing and ideal workplaces. 

EXISTING AND IDEAL NNSA-SC TRAITS 

ATTRIBUTES SHOWN IN COLOR REPRESENT 91 workplace projects 

THE TOP THREE VOTES FOR EACH CATEGORY 

OF TRAITS. 

From Workplace to Master Plan


GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK HEADQUARTERS 

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING 

BUILDING ON NATURE’S BEAUTY 

Imagine that you are a National Park employee in Grand Teton National Park. 

As borne out by findings from the WorkPlace consultant, you are here because 

of the mountains and your love of the outdoors. You protect the Park and 

its visitors. You educate hundreds of people every year about one of America’s 

magnificent natural assets. 

Although you spend much of your time outdoors, you also have a significant 

amount of paperwork. When you are working indoors, the highest peaks in 

the Grand Teton Range are right outside, but you never see them. There are 

no windows anywhere near your workspace. And, by the way, your workspace 

is either: 

•	 A desk tucked between trucks and snow removal equipment, 

•	 A desk in a narrow corridor with few windows and nowhere to meet, or 

•	 A viewless cubicle in one of several drafty, dark temporary buildings that 

allow for little interaction with other Park staff. 

Imagine also that a space with stunning views of the mountains and the 

Snake River is located right above you. It’s vacant, awaiting a decision on 

how to convert the unfinished space into a modern office. 

A previous plan to develop the second-story space was rejected by the Park 

because it didn’t fit critical work needs. The Park subsequently hired GSA to 

help develop a more strategic approach to the space. And in the course of events, 

what started as a workplace redesign ended in a master plan for the site. 

Current Context: The Ad Hoc Workplace 

The Headquarters of the Grand Teton National Park is similar to many Federal 

offices that have grown in an ad hoc way as people and space are added over 

left:	 THE VIEW OF THE GRAND TETON AS IT WOULD 

APPEAR FROM WORKSPACE ON THE SECOND FLOOR 

OF MOOSE MAINTENANCE BUILDING. 

93 workplace projects 
From Workplace to Master Plan 

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK HEADQUARTERS 

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 48,700 

Number of Occupants: 304 

Date Occupied: To be determined 

the years. The Maintenance Building, which houses the largest number of 

staff, is an unhappy marriage of office space and maintenance equipment. 

Other staff members are located in nearby temporary buildings. 

The Park’s leadership knew that something had to be done to improve the 

substandard physical plant but also to create a workplace that more effectively 

supports highly varied work functions. How varied are the functions? They 

range from autopsying dead animals to executing emergency rescue operations, 

plowing roads, creating educational experiences, collecting fees, and carrying 

out administrative tasks. Designing a space that supports such a wide range 

of activities required an integrated perspective and involvement of staff 

from all of the functional areas. The GSA WorkPlace consultant began with 

an exploration of the Park’s organizational goals and vision for the future. 

Creating a New Vision 

The vision for the future started with a hard look at the present. The Park staff 

and its work equipment—snow plows and trucks as well as standard office 

equipment—currently share a space in the Maintenance Building. In the 

summer, the staff increases from slightly more than 100 people to more than 

300 at the peak of the visitor season. Because of the seasonal demands 

and the need to coordinate work across units, the workplace redesign expanded 

to include several other buildings on the site. 

A visioning session led by the WorkPlace consultant identified organizational 

goals that would guide workplace design. The goals also served as guidance 

for the master plan: 

• Convey values of preservation and caring for the environment. 

• Improve cross-functional communication. 

94 
•	 Create a sense of community. 

•	 Demonstrate Park values to visitors. 

•	 Create a strong connection between the workplace and the Park’s natural 

resources. 

Creating a Basis for Design 

A key issue from the start was the feasibility of consolidating staff who worked 

on very different kinds of tasks. The consultant evaluated the nature of work 

using surveys, behavioral observations, and focus groups. The results provided 

the basis for understanding the commonalities and differences among groups. 

The different types of work patterns and requirements, called “workstyles,” 

determine space and adjacency needs. Workstyles are based on the ways and 

places people work, their degree of mobility, and how much time they spend 

on key activities (such as face-to-face interactions, phone conversations, and 

computer work). Interestingly, workers with widely different job titles often share 

similar workstyles that are not obvious until the data are presented graphically. 

In addition to the work analysis, a research team assessed the physical quality 

of the current spaces. Their findings led to recommendations for improvements 

in air quality, temperature conditions, acoustics, and lighting. 

Armed with the data from the workstyle analysis, physical measures, and 

assessment of the unoccupied second floor, the WorkPlace consultant and client 

concluded that the Maintenance Building could be reconfigured to accommodate 

all groups, even with the increase in summer staff. The plan included: 

•	 A reconfigured first floor 

•	 A new design for the second floor and mezzanine 

95 workplace projects 
From Workplace to Master Plan 

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK HEADQUARTERS 

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING 

As a result of the GSA consulting 

team’s site visit, the design team 

cannot help but be more successful 

in providing space plans that satisfy 

the desires and needs of a highly 

diverse group of park employees. 

CHRIS FINLAY 

CHIEF OF FACILITIES 

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK 

• Staff relocated from the temporary rented buildings to the Maintenance Building 

• Removal of the temporary structures from the site 

• Locating animal autopsy in remaining outbuildings away from other staff 

Further discussion among the WorkPlace consultant, the client, and the architect 

confirmed the feasibility and organizational value of the plan. As noted by 

the Park’s director of facilities, Chris Finlay, “The hand-off from the WorkPlace 

consultant to the Architect of Record will include National Park employees’ 

concerns and needs as they relate to spatial relationships, desired adjacencies, 

acoustic concerns, and indoor air-quality issues that don’t normally get fleshed 

out to this level of detail.” 

Workplace Strategy 

Key design goals for the workplace evolved around improved effectiveness, 

efficiency, and expression: 

• Increase interaction across areas of expertise. 

• Shift to group-held information resources. 

• Facilitate cross-training with other groups. 

• Accommodate teams in locations based on the need for proximity. 

• Upgrade building systems. 

• Incorporate sustainable design practices. 

• Improve visual access to daylight and the outdoors. 

• Provide a variety of meeting spaces. 

A Solution to Vexing Problems 

Improvement and consolidation of the workplace created the potential to 


re-organize the site and deal with two vexing problems: poor image and


96 
appearance, and difficulty serving the public effectively while carrying out 

park maintenance. 

The new approach will greatly improve the appearance of the site by removing 

leased temporary buildings and providing a more welcoming entrance to one 

of the nation’s most cherished National Parks. Removing the leased temporary 

buildings will also allow more plowed snow storage in the winter and better 

access to the Snake River for the public in the summer. 

An architectural firm and a landscape architect, with input from the WorkPlace 

consultant, prepared an integrated master plan for the buildings and site. 

The architect and the WorkPlace consultant verified that the space programming 

requirements and created scenarios of pleasant, workable arrangements for 

the different groups. The landscape architect focused on the site and developed 

potential improvements in river access, connections among the buildings, 

and outdoor landscaping. 

The Organizational Value of an Integrated Plan 

The Grand Teton National Park project shows the virtue of integrated planning. 

Improvements at the facility started with the workplace and lead to consolidation 

of the site as a whole. The improvements are ambitious and will need to be 

phased in over several years. However, the plans are well supported by findings 

from the physical measurements and organizational studies. The Park Service 

now has a road map to create a constantly improving facility. When the 

organization can see the summit, it is easier to climb to the top! 

above:	 SKETCHES MADE DURING THE DEEP DIVE PROCESS 

HELPED THE CLIENT VISUALIZE THE POTENTIAL 

OF THIS UNUSED SPACE. 

97 workplace projects 
98

GSA SENIOR LEADERSHIP SPACE 

AUBURN, WASHINGTON 

Creating a “Living Laboratory”


STIMULATING TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE 

Some work transformations happen rapidly. More commonly, though, transformations occur in fits and starts through behavioral adaptations, attitude 

changes, and the ongoing development of norms and values that better fit 

a new organizational direction. Many organizations abandon workplace 

experiments when the first results are discouraging. Those who are patient 

and get through difficult times often reap high rewards. Such is the case for 

the GSA Senior Leadership Space (SLS) in the Region 10 headquarters 

in Auburn, Washington. 

The Senior Leadership Space was created in 2000 to support cross-service 

collaboration and strategic focus among the senior leaders in the three 

GSA Services—Public Buildings Service (PBS), Federal Technology Service 

(FTS), and Federal Supply Service (FSS). The most unusual aspect of the 

project is its rigorous open-plan format. GSA leaders and managers who 

previously occupied large private offices relocated to cubicles on the first floor, 

surrounded by conference rooms and informal meeting spaces. The intent 

was to enable rapid interaction, to support spontaneous conversation and 

information sharing, and to allow leaders to work together strategically rather 

than to get bogged down in day-to-day concerns. 

Initial evaluation of the space in 2001 showed mixed progress toward 

collaboration. Although there were higher levels of collaboration within the 

separate Services, there was little change in cross-Service collaboration owing 

principally to different business models. The early evaluation also showed 

high levels of dissatisfaction with some aspects of the space, especially 

acoustical distractions, loss of privacy, and interruptions from passers-by. 

An evaluation in 2005 showed much more positive responses. In fact, no one 

wanted to return to the old pattern of private offices in different parts of the 

left:	 THE VILLAGE GREEN IS AN INFORMAL MEETING 

SPACE AND A LOCATION FOR FULL-GROUP MEETINGS 

AND CELEBRATIONS. 

99 workplace projects 
•

•

•

•

•

Creating a “Living Laboratory” 

GSA SENIOR LEADERSHIP SPACE 

AUBURN, WASHINGTON 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: Hunt Group 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 15,375 

Number of Occupants: 66 

Date Occupied: March 2000 

building. They wanted instead to improve the functionality of the existing 

space and to transform all remaining space along similar lines! 

A “Living Laboratory” for Change 

The Senior Leadership Space was intended to be a laboratory of the changing 

nature of work and to provide spaces that best support emerging work 

patterns. Business goals for the design focused on needs for greater cross-unit 

collaboration and communication. 

BUSINESS GOALS FOR THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP SPACE 

Improve the organization’s strategic decision-making and work 


processes at the executive level.


Explore and document new approaches to work and create a showcase


for other agencies to follow.


Design a space to facilitate cross-Service collaboration and teamwork.


Create a centralized, open executive environment to increase the 


accessibility of leaders.


Leverage the use of new communications technology.


The Design Plan 

The design strategy collocated leaders and their direct staff in an accessible 

area surrounded by a multiplicity of meeting spaces and quiet rooms. New 

personal workspaces are 80-square-foot open-plan workstations instead of 

private offices between 180 and 500 square feet. All furniture is freestanding 

with components on wheels. 

100 
above: OPEN PLAN WORKSTATIONS WITH FLEXIBLE 

FURNISHINGS. 

101 workplace projects 
Friendship Opportunities 

Sense of Community 

Ease of Interaction 

Information Sharing 

Building/Office Space Satisfaction 

Awareness 

General Workplace Satisfaction 

Noise Level 

Ability to Concentrate 

Visual Privacy 

Speech Privacy 

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 

GSA’s WorkPlace program conducted two post-occupancy 

surveys three years apart. The second survey revealed 

greater employee satisfaction with the workplace. 

SATISFACTION WITH THE WORKPLACE 

102 
The Senior Leadership Space includes both open and enclosed meeting spaces. 

A “village green” is centrally located and is used for informal, spontaneous 

meetings as well as full-group functions. Conference rooms of different 

sizes and with different types of furnishings surround the open space. Small, 

enclosed rooms (“dens”) are located at the periphery of the space to enable 

private work and phone conversations. 

The Difference Time Makes 

Interviews and focus groups conducted in 2001 and 2005 help to track the 

transformation. In 2001, improvements were muted. Based on interviews, 

we believe positive effects from changes in organizational structure and culture 

take longer to materialize than the participants initially expected. The interviews 

also showed several people were reluctant participants in the workplace 

experiment. They were highly skeptical that space could promote collaboration 

across the Services. Not surprisingly, their comments were the most negative. 

In 2005, a reevaluation of the Senior Leadership Space showed more positive 

outcomes. Certain concerns persisted, but there was strong consensus for 

continued collocation. The Environmental Quality Survey, administered by 

the Center for the Built Environment at the University of California, Berkeley, 

showed highly positive responses concerning the social aspects of work, 

especially the sense of community, communication, and interactive behaviors, 

as well as morale and well-being. However, there was continued concern 

with acoustics and distractions, as shown in the figures to the left. 

The interviews provided a deeper glimpse into the workings of the space 

from a strategic perspective. Some of the key findings from the two sets of 

evaluations correlate directly: 

above: HIGHER PARTITIONS SEPARATE GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL 

WORK AREAS. 

103 workplace projects 
Creating a “Living Laboratory” 

GSA SENIOR LEADERSHIP SPACE 

AUBURN, WASHINGTON 

Five years ago we didn’t 

want to be any part of this 

space... now we have a 

family-type situation and we 

don’t want to leave it. 

GARY CASTEEL 

ASSISTANT REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR, 

FTS, FSS 

•	 In 2001, communications and collaboration increased modestly in some 

cases, primarily within each of the three Services. In 2005, the leaders of all 

Services said there was significant improvement in collaboration within 

their units. As one leader noted, the business practices had been positively 

affected, particularly the sharing of experiences. 

•	 In 2001, cross-Service collaboration proved to be difficult owing principally 

to the differences in business models. An example of the different business 

models is that the customer base of one unit is national and for a single 

product line, whereas for another it is solely in the Pacific Northwest and for 

a broad set of products. In 2005, collaboration across the Services was 

better understood—it was a function of business need, and it happened when 

the missions required it. Nonetheless, there was a general agreement that 

people know one another better and that there was a higher general awareness 

of the work of the three Services. 

•	 In 2001, informal interaction as well as full-group meetings improved 

cross-Service awareness and knowledge of people, thereby laying the foundation 

for the development of future working relationships. In 2005, decisions 

could be made more rapidly because informal team interactions raised awareness 

of what others are doing. The pending merger of FTS and FSS is likely to 

be easier in Region 10 because senior leaders are collocated. The two Services 

will merge to form the Federal Acquisition Service. 

•	 Key concerns with the new space in 2001 were increased distractions from 

others’ talking, loss of privacy, and increased interruptions to individual 

work. The problems with privacy and acoustics were still a concern in 2005. 

Acoustical problems are exacerbated by spontaneous conversations and brief 

104 
“ ”

We are having fun in our 

Avenue of Senior Moments. 

meetings that occur as people meet one another or stop by someone’s workstation to ask a question. Among the likely solutions to these problems are 

ANONYMOUS QUOTE greater soundproofing of meeting rooms, improved behavioral protocols, and 

an increase in the number of dens for quiet work and confidential conversations. 

On the other hand, the proximity to one another has created a greater sense 

of camaraderie and spontaneous fun—a factor known to enhance the trust 

that underlies good work relationships. 

• Both evaluations showed mobility within the space was more difficult than 

envisioned owing to the lack of technological support as well as to the frequent 

use of desk-based paper documents. 

Despite these difficulties, no one wanted to move, nor did anyone suggest 

a return to private offices. There was a strong consensus that the benefits 

of spontaneous interaction were very important to all three organizations 

and should be maintained. Therefore, any workplace reorganization will focus 

on recommitment to the central goals of the space and to reducing problems 

associated with loss of speech privacy, noise from meeting spaces, and 

a confusing circulation system. 

Lessons Learned from the Senior Leadership Space 

• Meaningful change takes time. Behaviors and attitudes don’t change overnight. 

The Senior Leadership Space represented a dramatic shift in workspace 

allocation and expectations about how leaders should work. Yet the physical 

environment alone cannot carry the full burden of change. Experts in organizational effectiveness and change management should be engaged to help 

build internal support structures that reward, model, and encourage changes 

in behaviors, values, and relationships. 

105 workplace projects 
Creating a “Living Laboratory” 

GSA SENIOR LEADERSHIP SPACE 

AUBURN, WASHINGTON 

•	 Periodic evaluation ensures that space continues to support strategic business 

goals. The recent analysis of the Senior Leadership Space showed improvements in many of the original project goals, but it also suggested ways to 

further improve the space to support business needs. The reflective activity 

of periodic evaluation is what a laboratory is all about—learning from the 

present to inform the future. 

•	 Designing for improved communication and collaboration is likely to increase 

concerns with loss of privacy and increased distraction. Design strategies to 

improve collaboration and interaction must be balanced with needs for focused 

attention and confidentiality. The provision of small, enclosed spaces overcame this difficulty to some extent, but concerns about difficulty concentrating 

and loss of privacy still existed. The provision of additional quiet rooms scattered among the individual workstations may help to resolve these problems. 

•	 Collaboration across units is difficult when units are highly independent. 

As other research studies have also shown, work groups with little history of 

collaboration are unlikely to begin joint undertakings just because of physical 

space changes. This project showed that space can foster and reinforce 

collaborative behaviors only when a business basis exists. 

•	 Technology, space planning, and work change must be well integrated if 

the workplace is to realize goals for flexibility and mobility. Mobility within 

the space was more limited than intended, in part owing to the lack of mobile 

technology support, such as wireless connections, cell phones, and laptop 

computers. The more serious issue was the absence of an integrated plan to 

assess current use and future needs for technology, flexibility, and work-process 

support. Designing for mobility is a cross-disciplinary process that should 

include the client, technology experts, designers, and organizational experts. 

106 
above:	 SMALL, ENCLOSED MEETING ROOMS ARE USED 

FOR QUIET OR CONFIDENTIAL WORK, WHILE 

THE OPEN COFFEE AREA SUPPORTS CASUAL 

INTERACTIONS AND BRIEF MEETINGS. 

107 workplace projects 
108

GSA OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS 

WASHINGTON, DC 

Creating a More 

Collaborative Workforce 

FROM “I” TO “WE” 

The staff of GSA’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) found they worked primarily 

as isolated individuals, but they wanted to work more as a team. Why weren’t 

they collaborating more? 

GSA’s WorkPlace consulting team addressed this question during diagnostic 

meetings and activities aimed at identifying the ways the organization worked 

now and the ways it wanted to work in the future. A series of group meetings 

and exercises resulted in several specific goals that guided the final workplace 

design. These included: 

• Shifting to a more strategic and collaborative focus 

• Improving staff morale 

• Promoting communication across groups within OCR 

• Enhancing the reputation and image of OCR 

• Providing a better balance between needs for concentration and collaboration 

Only after addressing the organizational goals did the team analyze the 

physical environment, now in the context of what the organization wanted to 

achieve. The analysis identified many constraints that kept people from 

working effectively together. These barriers included lack of spaces for spontaneous meetings, visual barriers that reduced situational awareness, staff 

located in different parts of the building, and spatial separation of managers 

and associates. 

The general workplace strategy focused on eliminating the barriers to group 

effectiveness while providing support for behaviors and activities that aided 

team-building and collaboration. Specific solutions focused on furnishings, 

spatial layout, and creation of new spaces. The new design incorporated 

these solutions: 

left:	 A VARIETY OF MEETING SPACES FOSTER 

COLLABORATION, CAMARADERIE, AND A SENSE 

OF GROUP COHESION. 

109 workplace projects 
Creating a More Collaborative Workforce 

GSA OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS 

WASHINGTON, DC 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: HOK Advance 

Strategies 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 2,800 

Number of Occupants: 16 

Date Occupied: June 2004 

•	 Improved proximity of associates to one another and to managers 

•	 Increased internal visibility through the use of lower panels and partial glazing 

•	 Open and informal spaces to support spontaneous meetings 

•	 A small enclosed room with comfortable furnishings for confidential 

conversations and meetings 

•	 A conference room suitable for full-group meetings 

How Is It Going? 

Interviews and a survey provided data on the success of the project from the 

managers’ and associates’ perspectives. The survey asked respondents 

to rate the new workspace relative to the old space on psychosocial well-being 

and engagement, communication and awareness, individual and group work 

effectiveness, and environmental quality. Respondents rated both individual 

and group work effectiveness as much better in the new space. They also 

perceived the new space as much better for awareness of what others are 

doing and for the ability to share information rapidly. 

The survey findings were reinforced in the interviews with managers. The 

managers attributed communication improvements to visual openness and to 

the fact that everyone is collocated in the new space. They also identified 

other benefits of the new workspace: 

•	 Increased ability to join in conversations 

•	 Greater likelihood of communicating face-to-face than by e-mail 

•	 More spontaneous interactions 

•	 Increased visibility of one another 

Furthermore, the managers believed the improved communication and 

interaction in the new space increased the ability of staff to work as a team 

and to look at challenges from multiple angles and perspectives. 

110 
WORK EXPERIENCES IN THE NEW SPACE 

COMPARED TO THE OLD SPACE 

WELL-BEING AND ENGAGEMENT 

Feeling proud of the 

organization and its mission 

Feeling satisfied with 

your job overall 

Sense of belonging 

to a group 

WORK EFFECTIVENESS 

Ability to concentrate 

when needed 

Ability to coordinate 

tasks with others 

Awareness of what others 

are working on 

Feeling productive 

at work 

Ability to share 

information quickly 

Ability to work 

effectively as a team 

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 

NEW SPACE NEW SPACE 

MUCH WORSE MUCH BETTER 

A survey asked managers and associates to rate the 

new workplace relative to the old space. Workplace 

satisfaction improved in all categories. 

111 workplace projects 
·

Creating a More Collaborative Workforce 

GSA OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS 

WASHINGTON, DC 

The WorkPlace 20 20 process 

has us thinking differently about 

our workplace as a result of 

examining the important roles 

of each of the associates. 

We have succeeded in creating 

a workplace that is strategic 

and proactive. 

MADELINE CALIENDO 

ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR 

GSA OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS 

An example mentioned several times was the celebration of the 40th anniversary 

of the Civil Rights Act. The office held a ceremony, followed by an open 

house and tour of the new space. The GSA Administrator and the Assistant 

Administrator for Civil Rights presented awards to the WorkPlace team and 

acknowledged the value of the workplace. 

Environmental Quality 

Creating a more pleasant and equitable physical space was a key goal of the 

project. Given a limited budget, quality improvements focused on lighting, 

color, décor, and low-emissive materials to improve air quality. 

Survey results show that the workplace design achieved the environmental 

quality goals. The new space was rated as better on aesthetics, informal 

social spaces, electric light, air quality, daylight, access to views, and ability 

to adapt the workstation furnishings to individual needs and preferences. 

The image conveyed by the workplace was also rated as much better in the 

new space. There were some lingering concerns with acoustical privacy and 

distractions, yet these conditions are likely to occur only in open offices built 

around teaming concepts, and are offset to a large extent by the provision 

of small enclosed spaces for concentration and confidential work. 

Employee Engagement 

How employees feel about being at work influences their motivation and 

willingness to contribute to organizational life. This aspect of work life, called 

“employee engagement,” is a reliable predictor of organizational effectiveness. 

The most commonly used measure of engagement among US organizations, 

the Gallup Q12, showed significant improvements for OCR in the year after the 

move to the new space. These results are likely owing to the new workspace 

112 
•

•

•

•

Factors Contributing 

to Success: 

Whole group visioning 

Team building exercises 

Group decision making 

Organizational support 

FINDINGS FROM FOCUS GROUP 

WITH SENIOR MANAGERS 

design and also to the highly interactive process used by the WorkPlace 

consultant to create the workplace vision and concepts. 

How Did It Happen? 

The project is clearly a success from the associates’ and managers’ perspectives. 

Does that mean the organization is more successful? If so, can success be 

attributed to the workspace or have other factors also been critical? 

In workplace projects involving significant organizational change, multiple 

factors contribute to the success (or failure) of the project. In OCR, an 

organizational development consultant was also working with the managers to 

enhance office policies and practices to encourage a more collaborative focus. 

The team-building exercises of GSA’s WorkPlace consulting process are likely 

to have contributed to the development of trust and mutual understanding 

that enabled people to relax and be more creatively collaborative. As one senior 

leader noted, “Fun isn’t trivial. It opens the door to creativity.” This perception 

is soundly supported by research on creative problem solving. 

The group exercises also contributed to an understanding of the ways the 

work-place is linked to the nature of work. The analysis of activities, space, 

and relationships provided a basis for linking individual and group work with 

the organization’s mission and goals. The OCR group’s proclamation that 

their pride in the organization and its mission is greater in the new workplace 

shows this transformation. The mission has not changed; the people and 

their attitudes have. 

above: OPEN, INFORMAL SPACES SUPPORT 

SPONTANEOUS MEETINGS. 

113 workplace projects 
114

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ALBUQUERQUE SERVICE CENTER 

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO 

From Organizational Analysis 


to Design Scheme in Five Days


TESTING THE DEEP DIVE 

The PBS Field Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico is located in a neocolonial 

historic building in downtown Albuquerque. The interior is divided into a 

series of rooms typical of early-20th-century historic structures with high ceilings 

and generous proportions. By contemporary standards, the space devoted 

to circulation is excessive. The existing interior was more a relic of the past 

than an expression of modern ways of working. 

The PBS staff had been impressed by the output from the San Antonio 

workplace project, but they had to move much more quickly. The project proved 

to be the perfect venue to introduce the GSA WorkPlace’s Deep Dive and 

see what was possible using an accelerated approach. Because the San Antonio 

office was similar in size and purpose to the Albuquerque office, it provides 

a particularly apt comparison. San Antonio used a more involved process that 

took several months while Albuquerque took days. What was accomplished 

in five working days astonished everyone and pointed to a new, far more 

practical way of providing the benefit of intelligent pre-design. The Deep Dive 

process captures the momentum all too often lost to delays associated with 

coordinating activities and responding to feedback from clients. 

Creating a Rapid Understanding of the Organization 

In the kickoff session on the first day of the engagement, the office managers 

and staff identified a desired future direction for the organization that stressed 

collaboration, mutually supportive relationships, flexible work, and integrated 

approaches to customer service. 

In addition, the consultant team implemented a workplace survey and 

conducted a time/space utilization study. The outsized space allotment was 

not the only issue. The layout severely limited interaction. For instance, the 

conference room was more like a storage room. It was uncomfortable, 

left:	 THE NEW WORKPLACE CREATES A MORE OPEN 

ENVIRONMENT THAT IMPROVES COLLABORATION 

AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION. 

115 workplace projects 
From Organizational Analysis to Design Scheme in Five Days 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ALBUQUERQUE SERVICE CENTER 

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 7,200 

Number of Occupants: 32 

Date Occupied: July 2006 

unattractive, and poorly located. The time/space utilization study found that 

most meetings were held standing up in the doorway of the building manager’s 

office. The conference room was virtually unused! 

•	 Collaboration was difficult due to lack of appropriate spaces. 

•	 The office appearance did not convey a professional image or position GSA 

as a thought leader in workplace solutions. 

•	 There was little shared storage or display space to support teams. 

•	 Workers felt disconnected from peers by high workstation panels and other 

visual barriers that reduced awareness of others’ presence and work activities. 

•	 Because there was no formal entrance, arriving visitors would interrupt occupants 

of nearby offices to ask directions. 

Results from the spatial analysis showed workstations were occupied on 

average about 50 percent of the time. However, there was high variability. 

Some people spent most of their day at their individual spaces, whereas others 

spent most of their time in meetings or at client offices. Because the existing 

plan “allotted” a room per employee, a fairly typical response to these 

conditions, the allotment of space was a whopping 450 square feet per person. 

A typical industry standard is about 240 square feet per employee. 

The findings from the visioning session and research activities guided the 

development of project goals and workplace strategies using the Balanced 

Scorecard as a framework. The Scorecard identified goals and strategies in 

four domains: finance, human capital, business practices, and customer service. 

116 
PROJECT BALANCED SCORECARD 

Finance 

BUSINESS GOALS • 

• 

• 

Accommodate expansion. 

Reduce life-cycle operating costs. 

Create new sources of income. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • 

• 

• 

• 

Provide more flexible furnishings. 

Use energy-saving products. 

Sublease unused space. 

Use existing space more efficiently. 

Business Process 

BUSINESS GOALS • 

• 

• 

Facilitate teaming. 

Anticipate work changes. 

Support information sharing across groups. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • 

• 

• 

Provide a greater variety of meeting spaces. 

Provide project space. 

Create centralized resources and files. 

• 

• 

Display project information. 

Provide more flexible furnishings. 

Customer 

BUSINESS GOALS • 

• 

• 

Demonstrate expertise. 

Show appreciation of customers. 

Greet customers. 

above:	 THE RENOVATION YIELDED MARKED IMPROVEMENTS 

IN THE WORKPLACE, AS DEMONSTRATED BY THESE 

“BEFORE” AND “AFTER” PICTURES OF THE SAME 

CONFERENCE SPACE. 

117 workplace projects 
From Organizational Analysis to Design Scheme in Five Days 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ALBUQUERQUE SERVICE CENTER 

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO 

PROJECT BALANCED SCORECARD 

(customer, continued) 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • Use state-of-the-art design solutions. 

• Display multiple workspace ideas. 

• Document sustainable practices. 

• Display client projects. 

• Create a clear entry. 

Human Capital


BUSINESS GOALS • Support individual effectiveness.


• Facilitate interaction with others. 

• Improve general awareness. 

• Create a positive sense of place. 

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES • Provide spaces for concentration and confidentiality as needed. 

• Provide more visibility and openness. 

• Provide spaces for informal socializing. 

• Improve overall appearance. 

• Use spatial design to convey organizational and regional culture. 

• Improve ambient conditions. 

Creating and Evaluating Workplace Plans 

The Deep Dive team experimented with various methods to help the client 

visualize different workplace designs. Spatial renderings, which can be 

done rapidly during discussions, were successful in translating ideas into 

concrete forms. 

On the final day of the Deep Dive process, various plans were analyzed in 

a focus group using the Balanced Scorecard goals and workplace strategies 

as the criteria. The plan receiving the most positive comments successfully 

118 
above:	 THE NEW WORKPLACE IS MORE OPEN AND 

PROVIDES PRIVATE OFFICES FOR WORKSTYLES 

THAT REQUIRE CONFIDENTIALITY. 

119 workplace projects 

addressed collaboration, informal social interaction, visual transparency, 

and central filing. However, there were lingering concerns about the central 

reception area and the lack of small meeting rooms. A solution to these issues 

would require a powerful presentation to the historic preservationist. A plan 

was devised that satisfied the client, and the WorkPlace consulting team 

addressed the client concerns in the final work plan scheme that served as 

the basis for design. One remarkable upshot is that the staff voted, with only 

one exception, for a plan that gave them 228 square feet less per person! 

They wanted instead amenities and accommodation appropriate for the way 

they work. As a side benefit, this arrangement also cleared out space to be 

leased to another agency. 

In the course of five days, the Deep Dive process enabled a two-person 

consulting team to work with managers and staff to accomplish a significant 

amount of work that helped make the case for funding, and it fostered swift 

design and buildout. It “held a mirror” up to the organization and allowed 

the group to accomplish several important tasks: 

•	 Identify organizational drivers for change. 

•	 Conduct an analysis of the organization’s current and desired culture. 

•	 Analyze patterns of space use. 

•	 Develop work profiles. 

•	 Create a matrix of organizational goals and workplace strategies that allowed 

a rational way of evaluating the five schemes that emerged. 

•	 Translate all of the information into alternative concept designs for group 

discussion. 

The process yielded a remarkable consensus because each scheme could be 

analyzed in terms of the criteria the office staff themselves had determined. 

left:	 WORKPLACE CONSULTANTS FREED THE BUILDING’S 

HISTORIC FLOORING FROM THE ORIGINAL CRAMPED 

CORRIDORS. 

above:	 EARLY DRAWINGS HELPED THE CLIENT TO UNDERSTAND 

THE POTENTIAL OF THE REDESIGNED SPACE. 

121 workplace projects 
122

Design for Service, Honor and 

Commitment to America’s Veterans 

VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL OFFICE 

RENO, NEVADA 

IMPROVING BENEFITS SERVICE 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’s mission of service to veterans infuses 

the benefits delivery process within the Veterans Benefits Administration 

(VBA). The focus of every Veterans Affairs Regional Office (VARO) is on the 

mission of serving veterans with operational efficiency and compassion. 

In every U.S. State, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, there is at least one 

VARO building to serve veterans within their area of jurisdiction. To achieve 

its mission, the VBA has a comprehensive, national facilities program to 

improve service to veterans and employees’ operational efficiency by optimizing 

the physical working environment. It is an ongoing, multi-year program that 

will ultimately modernize every VARO. 

A Partnership to Improve Veterans’ Experience 

At their VBA Headquarters in Washington, DC, the VBA Office of Facilities 

is always looking for cost effective ways to improve its facilities portfolio 

with buildings that are state-of-the-art, with upgraded lighting, acoustics, 

and ergonomic considerations for staff and visitors. VBA has been building 

“Energy Star” buildings since 2000 and has its first facility seeking LEED 

certification under construction in Fort Harrison, Montana. VBA is very cost 

conscious of the taxpayers’ dollars and continues to look for new ways to 

enhance the workplace environment for veterans and staff. Partnering with 

GSA to leverage its experience with tools and methods for workplace analysis 

and delivery appeared as a natural way to enhance both VBA’s and GSA’s 

programs. After several discussions, VBA entered into a partnership with GSA 

to explore new ways to deliver space that supports VBA’s improved business 

processes in a flexible, cost-effective manner. 

VBA noted that its VARO would be leaving a 30-year-old facility when its 

lease expired in fiscal year 2007, and this would be a perfect opportunity to 

left:	 POWERFUL “FIRST IMPRESSIONS” GRAPHICS 

ARE DISPLAYED THROUGHOUT THE PUBLIC SPACES 

OF ALL NEW VBA FACILITIES TO PORTRAY THE 

VBA’S MISSION AND COMMITMENT TO STAFF AND 

VISITORS. 

123 workplace projects 
Design for Service, Honor and Commitment to America’s Veterans 

VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL OFFICE 

RENO, NEVADA 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: Studios Architecture 

Project Type: New building 

Square Feet: 35,000 

Number of Occupants: 63 

Date Occupied: Planned for October 2006 

make upgrades for the next generation. As with many leased properties, 

Reno VARO is a generic office rental that has, over the years, been redesigned 

many times to accommodate business changes and staffing fluctuations. As 

a result, the space is no longer laid out in an efficient manner, which inhibits 

communication and flow of information within and between benefits delivery 

service teams. The building systems are also antiquated and energy inefficient. 

Because the Reno VARO represents a very small (two percent) holding of 

VBA’s leased space, this project was considered a good pilot to explore new 

ideas in partnership with GSA, further improving the VA’s national program. 

Workplace Analysis: The Basis for Design Recommendations 

The on-site analysis by the GSA WorkPlace team laid the foundation for the 

new building design. Surveys and behavioral observations demonstrated that 

the employees at the Reno VARO are extraordinarily devoted to the organization’s 

mission. As an outcome, GSA and VBA focused on a goal to improve the 

working environment and enhance service delivery by designing a state-ofthe-art facility that further promoted teamwork and communications. 

One of GSA’s key WorkPlace tools, a mobile environmental quality assessment 

cart, has instruments for real-time measurement of air quality, acoustics, 

lighting, and thermal conditions. The computerized analysis provides a rapid 

snap shot of the indoor environmental quality. At the Reno VARO, the analysis 

identified significant problems with speech privacy and lighting conditions. 

A Solicitation for Offers (SFO) was used to specify in detail the desired features 

and attributes of the new lease/construct building. A key innovation of GSA’s 

partnership with the VBA is incorporating into the SFO both organizational 

124 
needs and sustainable design strategies. Recommendations for improvements 

in acoustics and lighting, for example, are addressed in the SFO and in the 

final contract signed with the developer of the new building. After the building 

is completed and occupied, the environmental quality analysis will again be 

conducted to ensure that the building as delivered conforms to the specifications 

of the SFO and contract. GSA has found that the certainty of post-occupancy 

testing improves the quality of both design and construction. 

To illustrate how we incorporated environmental quality analysis into the 

SFO, compare the language included in a standard SFO with the WorkPlace 

SFO for the new VA Reno office. Concerning window specifications, for 

example, a standard SFO prescribes that there must be a window in every 

exterior bay—with no other requirements. The VA Reno SFO includes 

additional requirements specifying window type, size, and glass performance, 

with the aim of maximizing light penetration while minimizing glare. These 

were identified in surveys, focus groups, and in the environmental quality 

assessment as key concerns. 

In addition to optimizing daylight and improving acoustics, the workplace 

analysis resulted in additional recommendations. Many of these were incorporated into interior design approaches, including the following: 

•	 Provide flexibility to respond to VBA’s dynamic and changing business processes. 

The existing facility’s antiquated layout and inflexible infrastructure of walls 

and furniture made it difficult to alter the existing space to meet the demands 

of new work processes. The new facility will be flexible and open with fewer 

walls, smart spine systems furniture, rolling carts, and staging areas that 

make processing of files much easier. Mobile files will make folder movement 

above: RENDERINGS OF NEW VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL 

OFFICE FACILITY IN RENO, NEVADA. 

125 workplace projects 
Design for Service, Honor and Commitment to America’s Veterans 

VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL OFFICE 

RENO, NEVADA 

During the Civil War, President 

Abraham Lincoln affirmed our nation’s 

commitment “...to care for him 

who shall have borne the battle, and 

for his widow and his orphan.” 

His eloquent words endured from 

his century to ours and serve today 

as the motto of the Department 

of Veterans Affairs, the federal agency 

responsible for honoring our debt of 

gratitude to America’s patriots. 

R. JAMES NICHOLSON 

SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

easier among team spaces, and will reduce the ergonomic challenges 


that staff members currently encounter from manually having to carrying 


large folders. 


•	 Design veterans’ contact areas around a public “front door” space and a 

secured “back door” for staff use only. 

•	 Everything that the veteran touches and sees should be considered a means 

of improving his or her experience. For instance, the “First Impressions” 

graphics that VA has developed, such as the one illustrated, will serve as 

the kind of “branding” and veterans commemoration needed to convey the 

Nation’s heartfelt gratitude to veterans for their service. The team recommended 

that these graphics be used in a two-story atrium that is large enough to 

accommodate the volume of visitors that come to the Reno VARO. 

•	 Provide more meeting spaces for both scheduled and ad hoc meetings. 

The lack of adequate meeting space in the current building created challenges 

when teams needed to meet to discuss and resolve benefits claims issues. 

The new facility will include conference, meeting, and team spaces both 

indoors and outdoors. 

•	 Create a zone of shared support services in the center of the building. 

This core zone will have open pathways allowing easy access and will contain 

active files accessible to all of the teams. High levels of visibility will reduce 

search time and help to keep files organized. 

•	 Use a cost-effective kit-of-parts for furnishings. Individuals and groups can 

configure important elements of their workspaces to best meet their individual 

needs and preferences in terms of both functionality and comfort. The physical 

126 
office will support overall organizational goals for flexibility and efficient 

use of space. 

A Sustainable Approach 

Reno will be VBA’s second LEED-certified building. A LEED-certified 

professional was required to be on the Developer’s staff to help ensure that 

the project will include sustainable design practices as defined by the U.S. 

Green Building Council’s LEEDTM rating system.1 

The requirements for the new building, created in partnership with GSA, provide 

a new approach that can be used by VA in future leasing projects. When 

the project is completed and its post-occupancy evaluation has been reviewed, 

the Reno VARO pilot will serve VBA as a source for new design strategies, 

identifying the best ideas and best practices that can be deployed nationally. 

It will also provide other Federal tenants with model SFO language. This 

partnership has proved beneficial to both GSA and VA. 

1 LEED STANDS FOR LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND 127 workplace projects 

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN. 
128

The Improvisational Workplace


PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ADAPTABLE WORKPLACE LABORATORY 

WASHINGTON, DC 

DESIGNING FOR CHANGE AND CHURN 

On any given day in a large organization, people and equipment are moved 

from one location to another. The immediate effects of this movement, known 

as “churn,” can be both disruptive and costly. Many organizations attempt 

to control the costs associated with churn by moving people without changing 

the space. 

Recognizing that the ability to respond to change quickly has a positive impact 

on an organization’s ability to achieve its goals, GSA’s WorkPlace program 

developed the Adaptable Workplace Laboratory around principles of easy, 

inexpensive reconfiguration, also termed “infrastructure flexibility.” Recognizing 

that different people respond differently to their environment, the Lab allows 

individual control over the environment wherever possible. The infrastructure 

flexibility boosts work performance by improving comfort and lowers costs 

by increasing individual control over physical and thermal conditions, 

and making furniture re-configuration easy. Furthermore, ventilation uses 100 

percent fresh air to reduce potential spread of airborne illnesses, and it is 

separated from the heating and cooling system to reduce energy costs. 

The Enabling Infrastructure 

Achieving mobility and adaptability requires a flexible approach using components that can be easily taken down, moved, and rebuilt. The Adaptable 

Workplace Laboratory accomplishes this with several interconnected elements: 

•	 Mobile workstation furnishings 

•	 Raised floor for ventilation, data, and power distribution 

•	 Demountable walls of different materials 

•	 Individual controls for ventilation, heating, cooling, and lighting at each 

workstation, including windows that can be opened 

left:	 EASILY RECONFIGURED FURNITURE ALLOWS 

MODIFICATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT TO MEET 

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP NEEDS. 

129 workplace projects 
The Improvisational Workplace 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ADAPTABLE WORKPLACE LABORATORY 

WASHINGTON, DC 

Project Facts 

WorkPlace Consultant: Carnegie Mellon 

Project Type: Renovation 

Square Feet: 11,000 

Number of Occupants: 52 

Date Occupied: October 1999 

Built for Change 

The Adaptable Workplace Laboratory had originally been designed for the 

National Centers of Expertise. When the space was ready for move-in, though, 

the Office of Real Estate Portfolio Management had a more urgent need for 

space and became the Lab’s first tenant. 

The tenant change created the first adaptability challenge: Could the space 

designed for a specific organization work for a very different group? The 

experience of the Portfolio group provides a strong affirmative answer. 

Adaptations and Changes Over Time 

The Portfolio group has been in the space for seven years and has made 

adjustments several times as the organization itself has changed dramatically. 

The group has been through three major reorganizations and has experienced 

an expansion of over 150 percent. In essence, three different organizations 

have occupied the space. Some changes offer notable insights on the value 

of easy modifications: 

•	 On move-in day, one group reconfigured all of its furniture within 90 minutes. 

This same space has been reconfigured three times since then to better 

suit the occupants. The flexibility of the furniture and thus the minimal cost 

of change were key factors in enabling the reconfigurations. 

•	 One manager has added two touchdown stations inside his enclosed space 

for staff who live outside the Washington area. The adaptation uses the space 

more efficiently than having a separate space for each person and promotes 

interaction between the manager and staff members when they are in town at 

the same time. 

130 
top:	 A CENTRALLY LOCATED COMMUNITY SPACE 

PROVIDES EASY ACCESS TO WORKPLACE AMENITIES. 

above:	 THE NEW MEETING SPACES ALLOW LARGE AND 

SMALL GROUPS A VARIETY OF MEETING OPTIONS. 

131 workplace projects 
·

The Improvisational Workplace 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

ADAPTABLE WORKPLACE LABORATORY 

WASHINGTON, DC 

Employees consistently rank 

protection from noise and access 

to acoustical privacy as high 

in importance, but lacking in their 

work environment. Therefore, 

acoustical analysis has become 

an integral part of GSA’s WorkPlace 

20 20 research program; guidance 

for providing acoustical privacy 

has been incorporated into the 

Facilities Standards for the Public 

Buildings Service (P-100). 

•	 Changing priorities created the need for offices with true speech privacy. 

Officials were planning real estate transactions of great value and high sensitivity, 

and a leak could significantly damage the returns to the Government. After 

an acoustical analysis, a design using demountable partitions with ceilings 

suspended 6 inches below the top was selected. The tall ceiling enabled the 

design to be realized without rework, and the flexible raised-floor design made 

it easy to wire the offices. The existing individual comfort controls eliminated 

the cost of changing ductwork to convert from open-plan to private offices. 

•	 When adding the private offices, one conference room was relocated and 

reconfigured to provide some needed storage. All parts were reused, resulting 

in a low cost for the adjustment. 

•	 Shortly after moving in, the office decided to locate managers together in a 

leadership cluster. The idea was to increase communication among managers 

across suborganizations. After about nine months, the leadership group agreed 

the change did not increase communication or organizational effectiveness. 

It instead caused a decline in connection and communication between each 

manager and her staff. So in two afternoons—just eight hours—all the 

managers relocated, and half the staff moved, too. The ease of modification 

allowed the organization to experiment with the physical space at a low cost, 

and it also enabled the group to reverse the suboptimal arrangement. 

132 
IS ADAPTABILITY COST EFFECTIVE? 

Although the initial renovation might, in the short term, be more 

expensive than a typical space reconfiguration for a tenant already 

in the space, it will be less expensive over the long term based 

on life-cycle costs. The higher initial costs were for removing dropped 

ceilings, asbestos, and corridor walls made from terracotta blocks, 

as well as installing a raised floor, new air handlers, and grids for the 

various systems. However, GSA expects to recover the cost differences 

in less than eight years from energy savings and reduced workspace 

churn costs, of which one of the furniture systems eliminated 

90 percent. In all of the space changes over seven years, no modifications to the basic mechanical systems were required. Even the heat 

pumps are “plug and play,” requiring no changes in plumbing and 

no ductwork to alter. 

above: THE CENTRALLY LOCATED CONCIERGE ORIENTS 

VISITORS WHILE REINFORCING WORKPLACE IDENTITY. 

133 workplace projects 

References and Suggested Readings 

Becker, F. and W. Sims, 2001. Offices that Work: Balancing Communication,


Flexibility, and Cost. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, International Workplace


Studies Program.


Bell, M. and M. Joroff, 2000. The Agile Workplace. Cambridge, MA: Report


published by the Gartner Group and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


Beyerlein, M.M, S. Freedman, C. McGee, and L. Moran, 2003. Beyond


Teams: Building the Collaborative Organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.


Brager, G., J. Heerwagen, F. Bauman, C.Huizenga, K. Powell, A. Ruland, 


and E. Ring, 2000. Team Spaces and Collaboration: Links to the Physical


Environment. Berkeley: University of California, Center for the Built Environment.


Clements-Croome, D., 2006 (ed). Creating the Productive Workplace, 2nd ed.


London and New York: Taylor & Francis.


Duffy, F., 2006. Evaluation: The Key to the Reinvention of the Office. 


In D. Clements-Croome (ed). Creating the Productive Workplace, 2nd ed.


London and New York: Taylor & Francis.


Duffy, F., 1997. The New Office. London: Conran Octopus. 

Horgen, T.H., M.L. Joroff, W.L. Porter, and D.A. Schön, 1999. Excellence by 

Design: Transforming Workplace and Work Practice. New York: Wiley. 

Heerwagen, J., K. Kelly, K. Kampschroer, and K.Powell, 2006. The Cognitive 

Workplace. In D. Clements-Croome (ed). Creating the Productive Workplace, 

2nd ed., London and New York: Taylor & Francis. 

135 references 
Heerwagen, J., K. Kampschroer, K. Powell, and V. Loftness, 2004. 

Collaborative Knowledge Work Environments. Building Research & Information. 

33(6): 510-518. 

Heerwagen, J., K. Kelly, and K. Kampschroer, 2005. The Changing Nature 

of Organizations, Work, and Workplace. The Whole Building Design Guide, 

www.wbdg.org 

Heerwagen, J. and K. Kampschroer, 2005. Designing for Organizational 

Effectiveness. The Whole Building Design Guide, www.wbdg.org. 

Kamschroer, K. and J. Heerwagen, 2005. The Strategic Workplace: 

Development and Evaluation. Building Research & Information, 33(4):326-337. 

Kaplan, R.S. and D.P. Norton, 1996. The Balanced Scorecard. Boston: 

Harvard Business School Press. 

Karoly, L.A. and C.W.A. Panis, 2004. The 21st Century at Work: Forces 

Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States. Santa 

Monica, CA: The Rand Corporation. 

National Research Council, 2001. The Changing Nature of Work: Implications 

for Occupational Analysis. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. 

U.S. General Services Administration, 2006. The Innovative Workplace: 

Benefits and Best Practices. Washington, D.C.: U.S. General Services 

Administration, Office of Governmentwide Policy. 

136 
U.S. General Services Administration, 2006. Leading by Example. Washington


DC: U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Applied Science. 


U.S. General Services Administration, 1999. The Integrated Workplace: 


A Comprehensive Approach to Developing Workspace. Washington DC: U.S.


General Services Administration, Office of Governmentwide Policy.


Work Trends, 2000. Nothing but Net: American Workers and the Information 

Economy. John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University, 

and Center for Survey Research and Analysis, University of Connecticut. 

137 references 

Acknowledgements 

• 

The Office of Applied Science, its WorkPlace and Research staff, wish to 

acknowledge our clients for their enthusiastic cooperation and assistance with 

the implementation of the WorkPlace program and production of this publication. 

In addition, we would like to thank the following individuals for their leadership, 

vision and support: 

Lurita A. Doan, Administrator, GSA 

David L. Bibb, Deputy Administrator, GSA 

David L. Winstead, Commissioner, Public Buildings Service, GSA 

Anthony E. Costa, Deputy Commissioner, Public Buildings Service, GSA 

Project Teams 

US COAST GUARD MLCP(v) 

Client: Rear Admiral Jody Breckenridge, US Coast Guard Maintenance and


Logistics Command, Pacific; USCG MLCP(v).


Move Team: Captain John Kaplan, Captain Phil Sullivan, Ryan Young,


Commander John Harding, Anne Kennealy-Kramer, Brad Suchanek, Janyce


DeCanto, Brenda Hess, Douglas Rice, Lieutenant Donald Robertson, Vivian


Suelzle, Kevin Wood.


GSA Project Team: Peter G. Stamison, Regional Administrator; Jeffrey E.


Neely, PBS Assistant Regional Administrator; Jennifer Martin Villalobos,


Regional WorkPlace Advocate; Ashima Roy, Project Manager.


WorkPlace Consultant: Gensler, San Francisco, Gervais Tompkin/Joe Ouye,


Project Leads.


Design: CRA Architecture, Inc., Elizabeth Pyle, Project Lead. 


CD Firm: Development One, Inc., Bruce Camino, Project Lead.


Photography: © Keri Tulley/Anthony Hsih: pp. 30, 35; © Sherman


Takata/Teknion p. 37.


139 acknowledgements 
• GSA MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE 

Client: Barbara L. Shelton, Regional Administrator; Jan Ziegler, Public


Buildings Service; Jack Williams, Federal Supply Service; Paul McDermott,


Federal Technology Service.


GSA Project Team: Dale Anderson, Project Manager; Vija Brewer Long, 


Project Designer/Regional WorkPlace Advocate.


Design: Collaborative Design, Inc., Kim Seibert, Project Lead.


Photography: © Mark Weidman pp. 41, 44; © Tom Crane Photography 


pp. 38, 42–43.


• PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL OFFICE 

Client: Paul Prouty, PBS Assistant Regional Administrator; Mark Krone, 


Client Representative Team Leader.


GSA Project Team: Larry E. Trujillo, Sr., Regional Administrator; Al Camp,


Kim Bailey, Project Managers; Mary Greaves Burton, Regional WorkPlace


Advocate.


WorkPlace Consultant: Gensler, Washington, DC, Ernest Munoz, Project Lead. 


Design: Gensler, Denver, Blake Mourer, Project Lead. 


Photography: © Gensler


• PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE GREAT LAKES REGIONAL OFFICE 

Client: GSA Great Lakes Region PBS Regional Headquarters Office, J. David


Hood, PBS Assistant Regional Administrator. 


GSA Project Team: Allison Azevedo, Michael Bloom, William Earle, William


Green. 


WorkPlace Regional Advocates: Allison Azevedo, Michael Bloom. 


WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW, Andrew Laing & Jennifer Schumann, Project


Leads. 


140 
Design: Julie Snow Architects & Mekus Studios, Jackson Boren, Project Lead. 

Photography: Kevin Robinson 

•	 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RICHLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE 

Client: Richland Re-invention Team, Douglas Shoop, Steve Veitenheimer,


Michael Elsen. 


GSA Project Team: Jon R. Kvisted, Regional Administrator; Carole Diamond,


PBS Assistant Regional Administrator; Dee Jump, Portfolio Manager; Story


Swett, Regional WorkPlace Advocate.


WorkPlace Consultant: HOK Advance Strategies, Jim Rice/Antonia Cardone,


Project Leads.


Master Plan Design: Pfau Architecture, Michael Jak, Project Lead


Photography: © Keith Reagan


•	 PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE 

SAN ANTONIO CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER 

Client: John Carson, Director, San Antonio Service Center. 

GSA Project Team: Scott Armey, Regional Administrator; James Weller, PBS 

Assistant Regional Administrator; Keith Andreucci, Project Manager; Becky 

Parham, Regional WorkPlace Advocate. 

WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW, North America, Jennifer Schumann, Project Lead. 

Design: Becky Parham 

Photography: © John Dyer 

•	 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

Client: Bonnie M. Blickem, Realty Specialist.


GSA Project Team: Scott Armey, Regional Administrator; Jim Weller, PBS


Assistant Regional Administrator; Lisa Wideman, Project Manager; 


141 acknowledgements 
Becky Parham, Regional WorkPlace Advocate.


WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW North America, Melissa Marsh, Project Lead.


• GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK HEADQUARTERS 

Client: Mary Gibson Scott, Superintendent, Christopher Findlay, Director 


of Facilities, John Stewart, Chief, Professional Service Branch, Grand Teton


National Park. 


GSA Project Team: Larry E. Trujillo, Regional Administrator; Paul Prouty, 


PBS Assistant Regional Administrator; Mary Greaves Burton, Kimberley


Currier, Regional WorkPlace Advocates.


WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW North America, Melissa Marsh, Project Lead.


Design: Abo Group Design, Ronald Abo, AIA, Project Lead.


• GSA SENIOR LEADERSHIP SPACE 

Client: Jay Pierson, Jon Kvistad, Regional Administrators, GSA Northwest/Arctic


Region.


GSA Project Team: Robin Graf, PBS Assistant Regional Administrator, Project


Executive.


Workplace Consultant: Hunt Group, Bob Hunt, Project Lead.


Photography: © Lara Swimmer 


• GSA OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS 

Client: Madeline Calliendo, Associate Administrator for Civil Rights.


GSA Project Team: Donald Williams, Regional Administrator; Anthony E. Costa,


PBS Assistant Regional Administrator; Fran Mazerella, Project Manager


Workplace Consultant: HOK Advance Strategies, Jim Rice, Project Lead.


Design: HOK, Washington, DC.


Photography: © Leigh Stringer


142 
• PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE SERVICE CENTER 

Client: Samuel Lopez III, Director Albuquerque Service Center. 


GSA Project Team: Scott Armey, Regional Administrator; James Weller, 


PBS Assistant Regional Administrator; Becky Parham, Project Manager 


and Regional WorkPlace Advocate.


WorkPlace Consultant: DEGW North America, Bryant Rice, Project Lead.


Design: Becky Parham


Photography: © Robert Reck Photography 


• VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL OFFICE, RENO, NV 

Client: Leo Phelan, Director, Office of Facilities Management.


GSA Project Team: Peter G. Stamison, Regional Administrator; Jeffrey E.


Neeley, PBS Assistant Regional Administrator; Robert Nimmo, Project


Manager; Naomi Hatkin, Regional WorkPlace Advocate.


WorkPlace Consultant: Studios Architecture, Christopher Budd, Project Lead.


Design: SDA, Design/Build.


• PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE ADAPTABLE WORKPLACE LABORATORY 

Client: GSA Investment Board headed by Deputy Administrator Thurman


Davis. Project Executive Sponsor Tom Walker.


GSA Project Team: Mike Atkinson, Lois Bennet, Project Managers. 


Workplace Consultant: Carnegie Mellon University, Vivian Loftness, FAIA,


Project Lead.


Design: Peck and Peck. 


Photography: © Anise Hoachlander


143 acknowledgements 
WorkPlace Tool Development 

The WorkPlace 20·20 program was built around the research, development 

and testing of a common set of tools. These tools enable federal agencies 

and design professionals to rapidly understand linkages between the physical 

workplace and the ways employees actually work. These tools were collaboratively developed by consultants DEGW, HOK Advance Strategies, Gensler, and 

Studios, who generously and openly shared intellectual property in dialogue 

with GSA and its WorkPlace 20·20 research team. 

Environmental Research Team 

In all projects, GSA investigated the physical environmental conditions and 

the satisfaction of tenants with the performance of their space, both before 

and after the project. The research team is: Carnegie Mellon University, Center 

for Building Performance and Diagnostics; University of California, Berkeley, 

Center for the Built Environment; Charles Salter Associates; Pacific Northwest 

National Laboratory; Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Michigan. 

Publication Renderings 

Michael Jak, Pfau Architecture, Malcolm Brown, DEGW, SDA Development, 

Kevin Kelly. 

Publication Team 

Glenn S. (Sam) Hunter, Jr., Assistant Commissioner 

Principal Authors: Kevin Kampschroer, Kevin M. Powell, Kevin Kelly, Judith 

Heerwagen; Intern: Patricia Cheng. 

Cover Photography: © Anise Hoachlander, © Robert Reck Photography (back 

cover); © Gensler, © John Dyer (front cover). 

Additional Images: © Gensler: p. 18; © 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software 

Foundation, Inc.: p. 27. 

Design: Stuart McKee Design 

144 


U.S. General Services Administration 

Public Buildings Service 

Office of Applied Science 

1800 F Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20405 

For more information: 

www.gsa.gov/workplace 
U.S. General Services Administration

Public Buildings Service

Office of Applied Science

1800 F Street, NW

Washington, DC 20405

For more information:

www.gsa.gov/workplace