Ed Zeigler Jr., left, and Stuart Stenger at work in the offices of Craig Gaulden Davis in Greenville.
c over s to ry Upstate business journal March 8, 2013
Mel Dias with Mel Dias Designs at work in his co-work space in the offices of Craig Gaulden Davis in Greenville.
but some days the headphones are enough and some days you have to get out,” he says. CoWork members will soon have additional venues for that change of scenery, The Forge on Main Street in Greenville and The Mill in downtown Spartanburg, both due to open this spring, Smith says. “We believe that everyone needs to get out of the office and if this is your office, you still need to get out sometimes.”
T en a n t s a nd Col l a bor at ors Co-working came out of a series of developments rather than a grand design for the 55-year-old architectural firm Craig Gaulden Davis, says Ed Zeigler, president. The firm employed 40 people before the 2008 economic downturn, but now has 14 on staff. In 2011, the interior design studio, located on the ground floor of the 8,000-square foot building, moved upstairs. “When we started getting smaller, we decided to integrate our two studios: the architecture and the interior design,” says Zeigler. The relocation energized the design staff – while it had regularly met with the architectural staff before, the change in proximity boosted collaboration, he says. This new synergy, however, left an entire floor vacant. Searching for a way to fill it, the firm spread the word that there was space available and soon had a former staffer, residential designer Mel Dias, using one of the three ground-floor conference rooms as his office. Dias, who had been working out of his home, loves the arrangement. Dias’s specialties don’t overlap with the larger firm, but complement each other, as does the other group who took over the former interior design studio, Blue Water Civil Design. Blue Water moved into the build-
ing with seven employees in October 2011. The three companies sometimes collaborate on jobs and are often able to answer the others’ questions about their specialties, says Dias. They also share some equipment like teleconferencing gear, copy machines and the plotter for drawing. And in the corner of the second floor sits a part-time co-worker: Vernon Trice, owner of VET1 IT Consulting. He’s a contractor who works on the firm’s computers, but Craig Gaulden Davis provides him with a workstation when he comes in once a week. Trice says he appreciates one of his clients offering him a base of operations. “I really enjoy this space,” he adds.
Mu t u a l Benef i t s “It’s given our whole office sort of a boost, to have more people in the building and to have different disciplines in the building,” says Zeigler. “Each of us has brought each other work since we’ve been in the building together.” Jason Henderson of Blue Water Civil Design says he and his partners had worked out of their homes before sharing the space at Craig Gaulden Davis. He’s now a fan of co-working and calls it “definitely a unique opportunity.” Though Blue Water Civil Design had worked on a few projects for the architectural firm, they have done more since moving into the building and would like to continue, says Blue Water partner Lynn Solesbee. “They will come and ask about a civil issue on a project that we may or may not be involved in. We’ll offer some free advice and try to send some architectural work their way when we get a chance,” he says. “I think it’s mutually beneficial.”
Contact April A. Morris at amorris@communityjournals.com.
“It’s given our whole office sort of a boost, to have more people and different disciplines in the building.” Ed Ziegler, president of Craig Gaulden Davis
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