Project Team
Furnishings/Walls/Flooring/Audio-Visual Partner: Young Office
General Contractor: Clayton Construction
Industrial automation company renovates existing office to support expanding team and enhance collaboration.
Edgewater Automation, designs and builds custom advanced automation equipment and manufacturing structures including robotics, machine vision, motion control, automated test and data acquisition, and software and management solutions for all manufacturing industries. Although their renovation project was based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Edgewater Automation has a prominent presence across various U.S. and global locations, spanning Michigan, California, Romania, Netherlands, and India. Young Office has had the privilege of supporting Edgewater Automation’s Spartanburg workplace needs since 2015.
Project Overview:
The Edgewater Automation Spartanburg office transformation was a collaboration between Young Office design, furniture, technology, walls, flooring and operations teams. Workplace Advisor, Kailey Cox, took the lead on understanding Edgewater Automation’s needs and supported the 8,940 SF renovation that included:
- 4,125 SF of new furniture
- 45 workstations
- 1 large conference room, 1 medium conference room, 2 small conference rooms
- 3 small touchdown collaboration rooms
- Everwall™ architectural wall system
- Modern reception area
- Work café / kitchen
- Sound masking system
- Flooring (carpet and tile)
- Finish and fabric selections
- Project management and installation
The key to success for this project was maintaining clear and open lines of communication. Every Young Office member involved in the project worked to synchronize efforts with the Managing Director at Edgewater Automation, Preston Patnoude, and the General Contractor, Clayton Construction, in the specification of new furnishings, selection of flooring materials, architectural wall systems and installation of AV equipment.
“This was a large project at scale but consistent communication with Edgewater, Clayton Construction, Preston, and our internal teams, really made this a successful project,” Workplace Advisor, Kailey Cox said.
Staying on Schedule:
Project Manager, Ryan Luby, meticulously managed the delivery and installation of the furnishings, ensuring each product was in its rightful place and on-time. He also worked in tandem with the Clayton Construction and other Young Office divisions to guarantee installation dates during the construction phases.
“Every project is different. It’s a chess game of moving parts and forward-thinking that allow us to be as successful when we install, reconfigure or design. Communication with everyone in the process is essential,” says Luby.
Everwall™ Modular Walls:
One of the highlights of the project was Everwall, a prefabricated Steelcase wall system. This architectural solution is one of the fastest installations in the industry which supported construction and overall project completion deadlines. Everwall is extremely simple to install, reconfigure or relocate, allowing Edgewater the opportunity to transform their existing set-up to enclaves, meeting rooms or even private offices, all while using the same kit of reusable parts.
Not only is Everwall fast and flexible, but it also maintains high acoustic performance for holding meetings where privacy is important.
Everwall has a vast array of design features including glass front options for any workplace environment while meeting performance, aesthetic, and budgetary requirements. It also has an expanded material palette of paints, laminates, fabrics, hardware and markerboard options.
Many clients choose architectural wall systems over traditional drywall for its speed of construction, future flexibility and modern aesthetics.
Using Sound Masking to Minimize Distractions:
Effective acoustics management is crucial for many workplaces, especially those designed with open-office layouts. Studies indicate that workers feel their productivity would improve if their office were less noisy and offered improved speech privacy.
Young Office’s Technology Team integrated a sound masking solution tailored to Edgewater’s new office configuration, featuring emitters that seamlessly blend into the ceiling, producing an adjustable white noise to reduce unwanted distractions and enhance speech privacy.
There are a multitude of benefits that come with using a system such as QT Pro by Steelcase, such as:
- Improved concentration and productivity
- Reduced distractions
- Alleviation of stress and fatigue
- Compliance with privacy regulations
- Cost-effective solution
- Improved employee comfort
- Enhanced communication and speech privacy
Summary:
This project represents what Young Office stands for: combining talent and vision to create dynamic, functional spaces that inspire, motivate, and engage. The result is a new 8,940-square-foot office that fosters collaboration among team members, minimizes acoustical distractions, provides ergonomic furniture, and has updated aesthetics that make people enjoy walking into the office every day. Young Office is proud to have played a pivotal role in shaping the future of this innovative and globally influential company.