Designing open concept offices in anchorage Stantec showcases interaction at CIRI's Fireweed Business Center.

• Author: White, Rindi
• Position: CONSTRUCTION

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Creating a comfortable and efficient workspace that fosters creativity, embraces natural light, and reflects a company's mission is no easy task. But the potential payoff--more opportunities for in-office collaboration, better employee retention rates, and the ability to attract motivated new workers--may be worth it.

According to a December 18, 2015, story in "Fast Company," a business magazine that focuses on technology, business, and design, top trends in office design include: bringing the outdoors in; using design tools to hide electronic wires and "declutter" a space; getting rid of offices and assigned desks in favor of multi-purpose space useful for deskwork and meetings; designated lounge areas that allow workers to move to a more comfortable environment for some tasks; organizing offices with pops of color; utilizing community tables that encourage collaborative workspace; using a mix of textures in floors, walls, and ceilings; and building flexibility into the floor plan by using modular components.

"Workspaces should flex to provide a variety of spaces and destinations for workers to inhabit that promote movement throughout the day," states Joan Blumenfeld, a principal at national design firm Perkins + Will in the Fast Company article.

Engineering and design firm Stantec hit all of those markers when creating its new space at Cook Inlet Region, Inc.'s (CIRI) Fireweed Business Center.

First Tenant

Stantec in January moved into the second floor of the new office building at 725 East Fireweed Lane, the location of the former Fireweed Theater. Stantec is CIRI's first tenant in the eight-story, 110,000-square-foot building. CIRI offices occupy the majority of the top three floors of the building.

Stantec, which merged in 2014 with USKH, was formerly located about seven blocks away at 2515 A Street. Jessica Cederberg, a senior architect with Stantec and the lead designer on the new office space, says the company wanted to stay in Midtown, but wanted to update its space.

"The Fireweed Business Center was raw space that we could design to reflect Stantec's standards, such as more opportunities for collaboration, promote healthy, active lifestyles, and [bring in more] natural daylight. The views of the six mountain ranges are an added bonus," Cederberg says.

Tim Vig, senior principal at Stantec, says moving is costly when including the cost of new furniture and the process of moving itself. But he's already seeing...