Real Estate Journal — Owners, Developers & Managers — November 28 - December 11, 2014 — 13A
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M id A tlantic
C onstruction M anagement By Glenn Ebersole, Hollenbach Construction, Inc.
Collaboration during planning, designing, & building office spaces facilitates creativity
T
oday’s office environ- ment can enhance or hinder creativity that
future amenities. The site se- lected for the building is a 25 acre property in Colebrookdale Township with great views and high visibility from PA Route 100 to build awareness of the company for potential recruit- ment of top talent. Gateway reached out to get a great deal of input from their employees for what they want- ed to see in the new building. The collaborative effort was continued when the team of Hollenbach Construction and Muhlenberg Greene Architects listened, heard, understood and acknowledged what they
had learned and collaborated withGateway in the design and construction of the new global headquarters building. Avery strategic client-focused effort went into ways to struc- ture the 2-story atrium/lobby through the entire length of the building as well as where to locate the bathrooms and meeting rooms, so that seren- dipitous personal encounters would occur. The recurring theme was to design and build a space that would enhance and facilitate collaboration and creativity that is so vital to their business. Thismeant there was
a need for space that would of- fer privacy when concentrated thought was needed as well as to provide collaborative spaces for team member interactions. Another key to the planning, design and construction of the spacewas the physical locations of the different departments which would pair visionary people who can generate ideas, with operating managers, who can execute them. The arrange- ment of the different work groups was carefully planned and designed to maximize this type of strategy. Innovation is most vibrant in the realms
where open-space systems are integrated with private spaces. Both models are good at foster- ing collaboration and facilitat- ing creativity. Collaboration is a lynchpin in fostering creativity in today’s workplace. And that collabora- tion begins with the develop- ment of the vision of the work- place before it even appears on paper, in the virtual design space and/or in the actual build- ing in the ground! GlennEbersole is theStra- tegic VP, business develop- ment/marketing at Hollen- bach Construction, Inc. n
takes place in today’s busi- nesses. Cre- ativity is the lifeblood of leading busi- nesses and it involves a collaborative process. The
Glenn Ebersole
most brilliant and life changing inventions and break-through technologies that have been developed are those that have been achieved through team- work. There is something special about engaging others in meet- ings in the flesh, which cannot be replicated in virtual meet- ings and interactions. Actu- ally the collaborations of these face-to-face meetings and vir- tual interactions energize the creative process. One past great example of this would be the founders of Intel who created a sprawling, team-oriented open workspace where employees all rubbed against one another. Alvin Toffler in “Future Shock” and others in the 1980s made predictions about the “electronic cottage” and digital tools that would allow workers to telecommute almost exclu- sively. However John Naisbitt in his research and writings in “Megatrends” noted that the more “high-tech” we become the more “high touch” we will need. A great example of collabora- tion in the planning, designing, and building office space that is facilitating creativity in the workplace is the recently com- pleted global headquarters for Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc. in Colebrookdale Town- ship, PA. Gateway Ticketing Systems is the world leader in high speed, access control, admission control and ticket- ing software for the attraction, amusement and intercity bus transportation industries. And they needed a very collaborative workplace to recruit and retain talent and to facilitate the cre- ativity required to keep them in the position as a global leader. Gateway Ticketing System’s vision for their world head- quarters building included the selection of a site that had great visibility from PA Route 100 and within close proximity to Boyertown. The site needed to offer great views from the building and have room for expansion and adding other
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