In 2024, SGA led a user-centric design process to create our new 20,000-square-foot headquarters in Boston. Designed for and by SGA’s creative team and leaning on 30+ years of experience, the workspace reflects our design expertise and our deep seeded culture of creativity, sustainability, collaboration, and transparency.

Formatted as a journal of sorts, SGA’s leadership and design teams contributed the entries below in reverse chronological order, with the most recent update at the top.

We hope to welcome you to our office at 99 High at some point soon! 

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

Occupying Our New Space

After several months of closely monitored construction, it was time for the final step of quality assurance before SGA could occupy our new 20,000-square-foot space at 99 High. We worked hand-in-hand with Lee Kennedy to ensure the installation met our design intent, and that our long-lead items critical for substantial completion—lighting, doors, glazing, and all the mechanical and electrical elements—were in place. Then our new workplace was officially ready.

After the life-safety walk through, we could start the move. Cushman & Wakefield assisted with project management and move coordination, which included a focus on sustainability. While key furniture was reused, other items were donated to the Furniture Trust to be repurposed. Finishes and material samples were donated to local design libraries, and all new materials added had to pass our rigorous new guidelines rooted in the latest environmental standards. In addition, new greenery was added from Cityscapes, aligning with core wellness and biophilic design principles to best serve the well-being and productivity of our staff.

THE FINAL PHASE

As a creative organization, we implemented the flexible approach that supports today’s evolving workplace. Rooted in data collected from our initial employee surveys and envisioning sessions, in collaboration with our workstation vendor Teknion + Officeworks, we developed a dynamic desking solution that includes areas for both flex-deskers and assigned seats catering to individual preferences and allowing for growth over time. Meanwhile, additional shared spaces such as our polished front refresh area and internal employee cafe, developed with Environments at Work, provide opportunity for an alternate work setting and spaces for both internal and external gatherings.

In anticipation of our move in, we developed resources such as a ‘What to Expect in the New Office’ presentation; a #99High slack channel; and a 30-day pulse survey. All three channels—as well as other tactics—were effective ways of driving change management and measuring employee utilization and satisfaction.

As examples of our learnings, we quickly identified that our new ‘Project Rooms’ were as successful as we had hoped, and that ‘Focus Rooms’ required additional monitors, which we have since added. At 30 days in, nearly all employees had a sense of where to go with office questions and requests and our collaboration spaces are serving their purpose well, a testament to the communication and hard work of the entire project team.

Several months later and after spending time in the space, teams are fully familiar and comfortable in the new office. In the near term, we will embark on a full post-occupancy study, something we recommend 9-12 months after move-in, to solicit any additional feedback and areas of opportunity.

IN CONCLUSION

Moving into 99 High was a tremendous milestone for SGA, after more than 30 years in business. We are thrilled that our new space communicates our brand identity, supports our deep-seeded culture of collaboration, and reflects our expertise on the evolving workplace.

Since our move earlier this year, it has been a pleasure to welcome dozens of clients and partners into 99 High. For companies looking to make an office change, there is plenty of opportunity. Check out our Step-by-Step Guide for Designing and Building Your Next Office as a starting point.

Broadly speaking, the modern workplaces desired by our clients often mirror what we’ve built at SGA. We create flexible and dynamic spaces that prioritize intentional, in-person collaboration as well as hybrid work. The design and build of 99 High was an opportunity for us to test the latest emerging strategies research and to mimic the processes that we apply for our industry-leading clients. Undergoing the experience ourselves ensures that we continue to bring expertise as well as a new level of empathy as we embark on the design and build of incredible projects throughout the country.

GET IN TOUCH

For those who want to learn more about the process, see our space, and talk to us about how SGA can help with your next office design and build, please reach out directly to Gable Clarke. 

Thanks for following our journey. We hope to see you soon!

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THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2024

Building the Design

Our Journey to 99 High has been accentuated by successful partnerships crucial for bringing our vision to life. At the heart of this collaboration are key players like Lee Kennedy Co., our Construction Manager; Nuveen, our landlord; and Cushman & Wakefield, whose brokerage team helped secure the lease, while their project management team ensured smooth coordination. Additionally, representatives from our vendors were vital resources throughout the design, construction, and occupancy of this new space.

To make the most of these partnerships, clear and consistent communication has been paramount. Leveraging the SGA Dashboard has ensured all partners remain connected and informed.

CONTINUED STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

Across commercial interior design projects, transparency is a cornerstone of success. Delivered through newsletters and =meetings to keep internal stakeholders engaged and informed, SGA’s interior design team has provided firmwide bi-weekly updates and insights into the ongoing work–a process the firm proudly facilitates in-step with its clients on typical projects. Where possible, periodic site visits provide even deeper, firsthand exposure to ongoing progress.

Throughout design, construction, and eventual occupancy of a new space, maintaining and further elevating buy-in remains a priority. By keeping stakeholders involved every step of the way, they remain in alignment with project goals and objectives and begin to feel a connection with the new space early on.

COORDINATION IN THE FIELD

On-site oversight is essential for ensuring project success. Regular site visits allow SGA’s interior design team to monitor progress while remaining nimble and collaborative for real time coordination on-site. Thorough documentation, careful collaboration, and vigilant administration pay dividends and foster strong relationships with our construction manager and subconsultants. This real-time coordination is crucial to maintaining design intent while ensuring established budgets and timelines are met.

Maintaining budget is essential, and we are always mindful of how every dollar is spent. Beginning in the design stage, but continuing throughout construction and fit out, vendor partners keep designers informed on product-specific cost implications that allow SGA’s interior design team to maximize the value of our budget while delivering exceptional results.

ON THE HORIZON

As we begin to occupy our new space, coordinating the implementation of ancillary details and soft furnishings like cushions, plantings, and artwork continue. During this phase, communication between the design team and end users shifts from providing information about the project, to providing practical resources that ease the transition for all stakeholders. Ongoing adjustments ensure the new office is optimized for success.

Join us for the final chapter of Our Journey to 99 High as we dive deeper into the process of occupying a new space, managing punch lists, as well as navigating post-occupancy. In this piece, we’ll provide an immersive experience to further explore the intricate details that define our new Boston office.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024

Refining the Design

With established internal insights, a solid basis of consensus, and high-level direction in place, the SGA interior design team moved forward with solidifying a floor plan. At this stage, they are weaving in the established zoning diagram with the details that will bring those spaces to life.

Carefully coordinating both technical and aesthetic programming, SGA’s interior design team draws upon surveys and consensus building to inform articulation of the design. Working to advance the zoning diagram and floor plan a series of increasingly detailed test fits are developed and analyzed.

Employees and other stakeholders are reengaged around points of substance to maintain consensus on the progressive direction. This process of renditions and revisions from stakeholder feedback are essential as the project team works from more conceptual macro components, to more intricate micro elements.

As the floor plan becomes more refined, designers consider how one might experience the cafe and encounter the most desirable views to Boston Harbor, the Greenway, High Street, and South Station. All of these points require careful consideration from multiple perspectives. Previously executed and ongoing surveys, engagement results, and more qualitative data continue to be crucial filters for meaningful development of the design.

The integration of Revit and Enscape, two pivotal software programs in the Architecture and Interior Design market, play critical roles in shaping the design vision. Revit focuses on form, scale, and proportion to build the overall view of the space. Enscape brings the design to life by incorporating finishes and textures. Multiple rounds of renderings and elevations are shared with stakeholders, providing context to deepen comprehension and solicit feedback. The synchronicity of these programs and plugins allow designers to communicate design intent based on insight gained from 3D renderings and walkthroughs.

One example of this in practice is found behind the reception desk: an SGA logo reveal. Designers were eager to integrate this feature as an object in space–rather than a graphic overlay. Enscape provided the necessary 3D visualization required to gain stakeholder approval and visualize this engaging element.

SGA’s interior design team delivered a series of carefully coordinated finish palettes to further establish and enhance the intentions of each zone. In workstations, focus areas, and formal meeting space, neutral tones and textures allow each team’s vibrant project work to take center stage. Offering a customizable canvas, these spaces spotlight the client, team, and task at hand.

Hospitality-inspired zones are meant to convene and connect. They provide moments of respite and inspire impromptu socialization. SGA leveraged more deeply pigmented colors and denser textures to better resonate with the high-activity function of these ‘front-of-house’ spaces.

With a solidified color palette and clarity into the technical aspects of the floor plan, SGA’s design team collaborated with Ember Creative to bring elevated experiential graphics and branding moments to life. These additions contribute to a brand-rich experience, adding a layer of uniqueness to the office that immerses employees, clients, and collaborators in the firm’s culture.

In the dynamic world of interior design, the journey from concept to reality is marked by continuous iteration and thoughtful refinement. The project team’s approach, use of technology, and collaborative partnerships ensure that each space not only meets functional requirements but reflects a unique identity. As the finishing touches are applied, SGA’s new Boston office creates an environment for employees, colleagues, and clients to think big.

In the next edition of Our Journey to 99 High, insights focus on the intricacies of building the design. Taking it from concept, to reality.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2024

Developing a Design

Guided by data obtained from earlier stages of stakeholder engagement and consensus building, the interior design team at SGA began translating these firsthand insights into preliminary floor plans, circulation studies, and white-box renderings. During the schematic design stage, these early studies spark deeper discussions to further advance design intent.

With solid consensus built around what kind of spaces employees want to see in the new environment and how they might use them, conversations shifted toward identifying when certain types of workspaces would be used and where they should be placed to account for ease-of-access and necessary adjacencies.

Derived from these conversations, SGA’s interior design team developed a zoning diagram that began to break down the floor plate into a productivity-enhancing ecosystem. Focused on connecting people and various studios, desking zones are distributed off of main circulation paths with shared amenity zones anchoring the corners of the space. Equitable access to daylight and exterior views are taken into consideration when locating program elements throughout the plan. 

During this stage, careful attention was paid to how different user groups would encounter the new office. Understanding the kinds of workspaces that employees, clients, and collaborators might use helped to inform an approach to the distribution of resources and amenities that would ensure the program’s entirety would be welcoming and functional for all. 

Throughout, designers have curated a mix of sociopetal and sociofugal spaces that allow each user to immerse themselves in the energy of the office at their own pace. While sociopetal areas focus on empowering employees to directly engage with the creative activity in high-energy zones, sociofugal spaces are strategically located at the edge of high-energy environments to allow for selective engagement.

CONCEPTUALIZING THE LOOK AND FEEL 

Alongside the programming concepts, SGA’s interior design team explored potential applications for color in the space by building out a series of studies. Using color theory, a palette of shades was developed that would ebb and flow alongside existing brand standards so as to not limit future updates.

With this information, focus shifted toward the proposed use of color and how these newly defined hues might be applied to finishes across the board to progress the story told within our new office. Hospitality-inspired social spaces like cafes and lounges deploy the most complex combination to match the energy and excitement of the happenings within. Large conference rooms, collaboration areas, and reception remove a color to leave space for elegance and inspiration that allows for deeper connections. Finally, in private offices and rooms meant for focus time, a monochromatic scheme presents users with an immersive environment to complete deep thinking.

CONTINUED COLLABORATION WITH FURNITURE PARTNERS

Building upon the early workstation mock ups completed in partnership with Teknion and Officeworks, the SGA interior design team further engaged employees by inviting them to try out a number of potential workstations, firsthand. As employees took the time to familiarize themselves with each configuration, they used their mobile devices to submit preferences and feedback on every detail from color and shape, to layout and storage options. 

CONTRACTOR SELECTION PROCESS

SGA desired a partner early-on in the process, and issued a contractor RFP before the design had been developed, or a location had been selected. By bringing in our construction manager, Lee Kennedy Company, at this stage the SGA interiors team was empowered by early cost estimation, expense optimization, and collaborative problem solving. By streamlining communication, ensuring feasibility, and addressing potential issues before they arise, designers were encouraged to think big, and to iterate innovative solutions that helped translate our loftiest concepts into buildable design.

With a solid base of collaborators, the next stage in the design process for SGA’s new Boston office turns ideas into reality. Here, insights will focus on refining the design and weaving more complex details into the space.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Engaging Stakeholders and Building Consensus

As a parallel effort to the search for our new Boston office location, SGA engaged our employees in the robust discovery process we regularly guide our clients through. This gathering of qualitative and quantitative data helps inform an ideal design outcome. This is where our work as designers really begins to push the boundaries between art and science: leveraging stakeholder input for the purpose of building consensus.

Some of the tools we use throughout this process include surveys, focus groups, programming interviews, envisioning sessions, and furniture workshops. Focused on transparency and inclusiveness, we engage stakeholders in a variety of ways; both individually and in group forums. We ask questions, moderate discussions, share images, and solicit feedback to determine functional requirements as well as the desired mood and character of a space.

Although SGA has lived in a hybrid work environment for several years, the move to 99 High Street affords us the opportunity to curate a space that reflects the way we work while enhancing our culture.

We asked each other: What will make our new Boston office a more productive environment? What kind of workstation layouts will best support our technology now and in the future? How do we imagine ourselves using huddle rooms and conference space? How can we engage and delight employees, visitors, and clients?

LOOK + FEEL INDICATORS

Leveraging the mobile app-based integrated presentation technology, Mentimeter, the team engaged SGA employees in a fun exercise that offered real-time results. This early-stage envisioning process put the group at ease and provided a virtual forum for employees to provide input anonymously, kickstarting our interior design team’s development of a conceptual framework.

This type of engagement helps inform a customized mix of spaces and features to ensure the new space resonates with each person who finds themselves within it. Throughout the process our interiors team took detailed notes, collected meaningful data, and had important conversations that resulted in an envisioning summary that included a matrix of precedent images and would inform future decision making. This information was then presented to employees, sparking further discussion and refinements to achieve holistic buy-in.

FROM DIGITAL TO PHYSICAL 

Partnering with our friends at Teknion and Officeworks, SGA employees were invited to use Legos to mock up workstation vignettes. Stepping out of the digital workspace and into more analogue methods can be an invigorating creative refresh. This exercise empowered our team to explore a wide range of solutions in a hands-on, low-stakes collaborative environment.

By engaging the entirety of the team early and often – in the same way we recommend to our clients –  we were able to foster a process that engages and excites. Today’s organizations are embracing a more inclusive approach, taking a deeper dive beyond leadership to gain diverse insights. With an understanding that not all ideas make it to the finish line, the very practice of engaging stakeholders allows people to feel more connected to the process, laying the groundwork for a smooth transition and change management process.

Eager to learn more about how this discovery process can inform design for your own space?
Please reach out to keep the conversation going!

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2023

How Did We Know; Where Did We Start?

A Note from Gable Clarke | Partner + President of Interior Design:

In early 2022, my fellow SGA leaders and I came to the realization that we, like so many of our clients, needed a new workplace to support our evolving organization. Considering ever-changing trends, the transforming landscape of work, and a focus on operational effectiveness, our first step was to identify the priorities that would guide our process:

 1. Walking the walk

The world of work has changed, yet most office spaces haven’t changed with it (including SGA’s Boston office). Drawing on the experience of assisting many organizations with the same challenges, we understood how critical it was to create an environment that was thoughtfully and intentionally designed to support hybrid work.

2. Creating a space where people can grow and thrive

We knew we needed inherent flexibility to accommodate the firm’s expanding practice groups, our team’s diverse work styles, and SGA’s future growth for years to come. We needed space that would convey our passion for design and enable people to do their best work, unencumbered and inspired.

3. Reflecting our unique culture

We recognized the importance of designing a sustainable, inclusive, hospitality-inspired environment that would position our physical space as a dynamic hub for employees, visitors and clients. A space that reflects our purpose: Embrace the Endeavor, Inspire the Future.

After identifying these focus areas, our team began to further narrow down our list of must-haves. Here, we extrapolated upon our priorities to include a shell space we could design from scratch (we are designers, after all!), an open floor plan full of natural light with great views, and proximity to amenities and multimodal transit opportunities. As we toured a shortlist of applicable properties with Cushman & Wakefield, and partners like WB Engineers + Consultants empowered us with valuable MEP insights, the decision-making factor came down to the age-old Goldilocks trope: too big, too small, just right. 

Having gone through the intensive programming and metrics study process we consistently embark on with our clients, we were able to determine a range of square footage that would support us for years to come. We considered our existing allocation of different space types such as workstations, conference rooms and ancillary spaces, and focused on how these percentages might change in response to the more fluid hybrid culture we were looking to bolster. By foregoing a 1:1 ratio of people to desks, we would be able to devote a larger percentage of space as “second” and “third” work zones, amenity space and meeting areas to support a variety of work styles, tasks and neurodiversity.

The decision to continue to embrace a hybrid work model – including adopting a combination of assigned and unassigned spaces, flexible furniture and environments that could easily be reconfigured – would allow us the ability to continually shape the space to fit our needs. In the coming weeks, we would further refine specifics for these areas as we focused on concept development.

While there are many considerations to be made as you uncover organizational wants and needs, the most important one to make is to partner with experts who further enlighten the process for you. As designers with expertise in delivering engaging workplaces, we had a slight advantage. But as with any mountain worth climbing, having a group of skilled navigators by your side can only ease the journey and sweeten the summit. 

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

SGA Announces New Office: The Firm’s Boston HQ Will Move To 99 High Street