Case Study: American Counseling Association

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•2023

CASE STUDY

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AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION

If the COVID-19 pandemic has done anything, it has underscored a simple fact: Change is constant, and organizations must be capable of adapting to change, rather than just managing it.

While the lockdown was ground-shaking and unsettling, the return to some sort of normalcy has proven to be even more challenging. Companies are looking for solutions that address their specific needs for their specific business models. A one-size-fits-all solution is simply not the solution.

DBI Architects has always sought to provide individual, original solutions, unique to each organization’s needs and aspirations. The present situation is no different.

In our approach to the workplace, we incorporate four pillars of design as guideposts. Those pillars are embodied in designs that are Supportive, Healthy, Smart, and Flexible.

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Supportive: In addition to its responsibilities as a functional space for productivity and collaboration, workplaces must now also reassure us that we are in a safe and healthy environment, and entice us to rejoin a comfortable, inviting place that offers benefits that are different from the home office.

Healthy: Our global focus on health and safety will impact every aspect of workplace design, from interpersonal wellness to ecological sustainability. The existing movement toward healthy buildings and spaces will be an expectation for the next generation of employees.

Smart: Workplace infrastructure must evolve to simultaneously support connections to remote employees and flexible work styles within the office. Smart technology will integrate with personal devices to allow for intuitive, seamless control of systems.

Flexible: The workplace becomes a dynamic collection of functional spaces for collaboration, learning, company culture, and client relations. Individuals will seek the space that supports their work needs that day; from energetic shared spaces to quiet areas for focus.

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The workplace and work life have arguably been the most impacted aspects of life for the first part of the 2020s. Change in the workplace has been nothing short of upheaval. Remote working, flexibility within office space functions, the hybrid workplace, and now “the workplace as a destination” have become familiar terms in discussions about space needs. The level of change we have all experienced has served to identify the strengths and weaknesses of organizations – and of the organizations’ infrastructure.

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Recent events have proved a salient point: Those organizations that were able to pivot and adapt to the realities were better positioned to stay above water and to ride out the wave of uncertainty that has pervaded business for these past three years. Successful organizations modified their workplans and refocused their work objectives, perhaps reconfiguring their workspaces to accommodate limited in-house presence and expanded remote working. Many discovered new efficiencies with these reconfigurations.

Now, organizations are faced with determining what will be reality, moving forward.

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It’s impossible to rewind to early 2020, to just pick up where we left off. Ignoring the lessons learned and moving back to old “command and control” models will not work. To squander the lessons learned about agility and flexibility – to shuck off the things that worked during lockdown, simply to return to some mythical “business as usual model” – would be an enormous mistake. At DBI, the path forward is to build on those lessons learned, to inform our design with the knowledge that there are different, more productive, more healthful ways to conduct business.

However, the answer is not binary. It is not a simple ‘yes or no’ proposition. The new normal presents on a scale. At one end are organizations that have found that continuing in a primarily remote work

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mode fits the organizational makeup perfectly. These organizations might need an office that is more of a nomadic hub, which provides conference rooms and team gathering spots to be used on a reservation basis, and where staff touches down only occasionally, reserving a space that meets their needs that particular day. Other organizations have found that a more structured environment is desirable – perhaps with different office and workstation configurations than before, that better address the adaptability and flexibility needed to respond to further shifts in the workplace. Many organizations fall somewhere on the nearly infinite range in between. And many are changing, as it becomes clearer what sort of configuration is best for them.

DBI works first to help organizations understand the parameters of that scale, and to identify where their organization fits. Addressing themes of corporate culture, desire (or need) for change, workflow, and employee engagement objectives, DBI’s designs are made to leverage every aspect of the corporate culture for the best possible outcomes.

What makes a flexible, adaptable workplace? The “new normal” will be different for every organization.

Promoting productivity and teambuilding and safeguarding employee wellness continue to be priorities for employers, even if how those issues are addressed is different from business to business.

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At DBI, we have adapted our solutions to achieve a more flexible space solution. DBI’s work with the American Counseling Association [ACA] serves as a timely and appropriate case study. A team led

by Managing Director of Interiors, Michael Boyer, began a design process with ACA in the Fall of 2019, digging into the programming phase, identifying the needs of the client, along with the organization’s aspirational goals. However, what started out as a standard relocation project morphed significantly when COVID-19 exploded across the globe. Amid the uncertainty of a business environment that was suddenly in the throes of a deepening lockdown, ACA paused work on the project until June of 2020. During that time, like many businesses across the nation, all of ACA’s staff became remote workers.

Over the course of the six-month design hiatus, ACA’s executive team had something of an epiphany: By all standards, remote work was functioning well. Performance had not slipped, nor had quality. Staff morale was excellent, perhaps better than it had been in some time. Finally, the question became clear. Did ACA really need 25,000 square feet of space?

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In a group effort led by the DBI team, in a situation with many unknowns, and after much consideration, the team opted to reduce their footprint to 9,000 RSF.

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This was a significant decision, not approached lightly, since an eleven-year lease was in the works – far more than a short-term reaction to what was seen as a passing calamity. The decision represented a strong commitment to the way in which ACA will conduct business for the next decade. Together, DBI and ACA rethought desking options, conference rooms, huddle rooms, and teaming rooms.

Before COVID-19, the floorplan was more traditional, with about 15% given to collaborative space, leaving 85% for staff spaces (offices and workstations.) In the new plan, 50% of space is now collaborative space, with 50% for offices and workstations. All of the space for offices and workstations must be reserved.

Within the office design, there were three different solutions to provide the staff with as much flexibility and as many options as possible.

“The Workplace as a Destination” ACA’s move to collaborative space does not mean that ACA no longer has desks. Instead, it means that the workspace has been reimagined to follow a more efficient model. A desk might be in a room that seats three or four to accommodate additional team members who might need to be in the same space for an hour, or a day, or several days. Or it might seat two others, or five others, or any combination. It’s all dependent on the needs of the team.

DBI’s plan for ACA promotes the use of collaborative space, designed to give staff what that cannot get at home. The space is designed to accommodate 50% of the full staff at any given time.

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C A N C O U N S E L I N G A S S O C I AT I O N S T O R Y

In a post-Covid environment, “the better workplace” takes into consideration factors which might once have been taken for granted.

These factors include: • The “human connection” – providing face-to-face collaboration • Technology – connectivity and access to office equipment that might not be available remotely • Same-room meetings – for visioning, brainstorming, creating, etc • Amenities – Fitness rooms, lounge areas for socializing • Catered lunches for staff “Building the Better Workplace” Designing collaborative space requires a great deal of discussion with the client. It’s important to know how the space is used, but equally important to understand how else it might be used. Flexibility and adaptability are key.

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C R E AT I N G A D E S T I N AT I O N

At ACA, there are many different configurations, meant to address how staff needs to work on any particular day. From single seat workstations to high-capacity conference rooms, to informal areas with more relaxed seating and laptop tables, the needs that maximize productivity, teambuilding, and employee health are addressed. With nothing assigned, the space is a true hybrid workplace. Staff books whatever makes the most sense for them, given their activities for the day.

Your DBI team is going to work with you to determine how to best articulate the Management Sciences for Health corporate culture in an environment that celebrates the organizational strengths, highlights the company’s aspirations, and grounds it all in an efficient and effective environment. The goal will be to create a design the leverages the best and highest uses of the space, delivering a workspace that promotes productivity, facilitates team building, and enhances employee health and wellness.

Project Details American Counseling Association 10,434 RSF x $101 per RSF Total $1,053,834.00 LEED Gold Certified Angela Thompson Chief Operating Officer 703-823-9807 athompson@counseling.org

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