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/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2016
A
s the federal government’s landlord, the U.S.
General Services Administration maintains
more than 377 million square feet of space.
In the Rocky Mountain Region, GSAmanages close
to 20 million square feet of real estate in six states.
Recently, our regional headquarters office at the
Denver Federal Center in Lakewood transformed its
workspace into a model 21st century office.
The new GSA office space features a complete
open-office concept with a plethora of meeting and
collaborative spaces, assigned/unassigned/hoteling
seating options, a quiet zone, and two large social
zones. The space represents how GSA does business
and focuses on the importance of mission and people.
It is about choice and flexibility, and it puts an em-
phasis on wellness through daylighting, mobility and
variety. The space strives to provide a balance between
private and collaborative options in an activity-based
and zoned design.
GSA has been looking at ways to improve and
streamline the federal workspace for years. We’ve
identified workplace solutions that are helping drive
down cost, increase productivity and incorporate
green office space elements. At our Lakewood head-
quarters office, GSA reduced its real estate footprint
from 104,000 square feet to 55,000 square feet, creating
35,000 square feet of office space that will welcome
new federal tenants in the building. The office sup-
ports 390 GSA employees now and we are achieving
a per person utilization rate of 135 usable square feet.
Rent savings exceeds $850,000 per year, with a project-
ed payback realized in less than three years.
GSA is using six factors to evaluate its success:
• Create a place where people want to come to work
• Provide a professional workplace
• Encourage and support collaboration
• Improve productivity
• Produce energy savings
• Improve the utilization of real estate
Most federal agencies are faced with having to re-
duce their real estate footprint, doing more with less
and saving money. GSA is responsible for delivering
expert workplace solutions to other federal agencies
and showcasing our own office helps customers better
understand their options. We conduct tours through
our workspace for mostly federal agencies but also
for some private-sector organizations like the Amer-
ican Institute of Architects, Fentress Architects and
Steelcase.
Employee Engagement
Our space was designed with our employees in
mind. Engaged employees are key to any organiza-
tion’s success, including ours. Benchmarking studies
by research company Prosci have found that work-
place projects with an effective change management
component are six times more likely to meet their ob-
jectives and succeed.
To help GSA employees transition into the new
workspace, we developed a change management pro-
gram that supported the regional culture and meets
employee needs. The program involved a workplace
survey, leadership engagement, manager and team
lead engagement, employee engagement, and a com-
prehensive communication plan. Employees at all lev-
els were able to engage in the project by participating
in these activities. The results were that more than 75
percent of employees participated in the pre-occupan-
cy survey; there was approximately a 90 percent par-
ticipation in the engagement sessions; and 100 percent
participation in “creating your workplace profile” – an
opportunity for employees to tell the project teamhow
they would work best in the new space.
Project Challenges
Individual storage space proved to be problematic.
Employees claimed to need more than what they ac-
tually used. GSA in turn took the approach to identify
short-, medium- and long-term storage options and
employees will be encouraged to do one last purging at
Sally Mayberry
Regional
Public
Affairs
Officer,
Rocky
Mountain
Region,
GSA
TRENDS
in Workplace Solutions
The Skylite Cafe is a multipurpose, eight-hour ex-
perience hub for employees to work, eat lunch or
network.
GSA Employee Nic Ferguson takes advantage of a sit-
to-stand workstation while using a tool called "The
Level" that brings motion to a common work area.
