OTJ Architects Tech Company Project Presented NAIOP Northern Virginia Award of Excellence

Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 09, 2014

Demonstrating the creativity and forward-thinking of OTJ Architects, the architecture and interior design firm received the Award of Excellence for a confidential technology company office at the Best of NAIOP Northern Virginia Awards banquet held at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA. According to NAIOP, the ceremony was an opportunity to celebrate significant new and renovated contributions to Northern Virginia by the commercial, industrial and mixed-use real estate community.

Brett Hartle, OTJs Senior Project Manager/Architect on the technology companys project, accepted the award on OTJ Architects behalf. Additional team members included Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. and DPR Construction.

The tech firm, comprised of 22,173 SF, had a design concept aimed at creating an invigorating, open-plan space to inspire collaboration, fostering an enriching employee experience and embodying the clients ethos of creativity and innovation. Special attention was paid to meshing the companys culture into the design to allow for recruitment and retention of the best and brightest employees.

The most enjoyable part about this project was working with our client to explore new ways to think about collaborative work space that fosters bold, creative and innovative thinking in the digital arena, Hartle said. Our client entrusted us with a clear vision, and we worked hard to articulate that into a design that captured the essence of who they aspire to be.

Through various types and sizes of scrum gathering areas, meeting spaces and huddle rooms, employees have the flexibility to choose where and how to work. A hot house was created where three teams could expand and contract to support different meeting sizes and the desired collaborative environment. Mobile benching stations and expanded floor outlets allow for maximum growth and occupancy.

Since the company conducts product research and development, incorporating technology was a key design driver. Appropriate security and anonymity were required for visitors invited to the space to test products.

The open plan also required deliberate visual and acoustical privacy solutions by integrating quiet pods and hard walled phone rooms. Each pod features video teleconferencing, custom barn doors and writeable surfaces integrated into the wood slats. They are also fully enclosed above for acoustical privacy. Additionally, ceiling clouds absorb noise pollution while ambient music plays as opposed to white noise. Directly adjacent to each pod is a scrum area with integrated technology in the table and monitors mounted outside the pod.

Bringing the outdoors inside, a dual-side green wall is featured in reception and adjacent to the designers studio. The designers studio doubles as a workspace and display area with movable millwork, collapsible glass partitions and integrated technology, once again reinforcing the flexibility of the office.

We specifically blurred the lines between work space and social gathering space that provide a workplace comfortable to a new generation of digital workers, Hartle said. The success of this departments renovation has now become the design paradigm of innovative and collaborative workspace within the organizations digital group as it is constantly evolving to stay ahead of the curve.

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OTJ Architects Tech Company Project Presented NAIOP Northern Virginia Award of Excellence