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September 2020 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \ 17 Building Relationships 950 17th Street, Suite 1300 Denver, CO 80202 303.721 .5800 contactus@bootscons t ruct i on. com tional sound absorption. Finally, if visual privacy is a concern, window filmand/or opaque roller shades within glass rooms can be integrated as desired. The best office is the one that gives people choice in how much stimulation (relational, audio, visual, etc.) they are re- ceiving at one time. As an example, our client Bartlit Beck, a law firmserving high-profile clientele, expressed at the onset of the project that sound privacy was the most important driver for its new space. To meet this need, we incorporated soundproof private offices and conference rooms throughout the design. A large conference room also was designed to ac- commodatehighlyconfidentialmeetings, completewithdou- ble-paned glass and foam, wavelike ceiling panels for sound absorption, secure technology and opaque window cover- ings. By incorporating a varietyof different spaces all equal in level of privacy, Bartlit Beck attorneys, as well as their clients, have peace of mind that they are in control of their private conversations. • Aword of caution. Nomatterwhere on the spectrumyour company falls, froma completely openwork environment to a solely private environment, I always encourage our clients to incorporate at least some measure of privacy into their space. That being said, designers and their clients should work together to understand andmeet the needs of each spe- cificorganization. There isnoone-size-fit-all recommendation for providing privacy. Again, some industries will require more privacy than others and everyone is adjusting to the hopefully soon post-COVID-19 world, but I believe there is such a thing as too much privacy. Work environments have evolved over the years from a more isolated, office-intensive paradigm to a more balanced percentage of open to closed office space. In addition to office-intensive settings being opera- tionally less efficient, the movement away from this ideal decreases the feeling of isolation and resulting purpose- lessness. Finding the right equation between the two is an art that is generated through thoughtful collaboration at project onset and a deep understanding of each client’s operational and cultural needs. Included in this equation is the importance of infusing space to support privacy on-demand. Each project must seek to find that middle ground between complete privacy and complete openness that suits its employees best. It is one way companies can show they trust and value their employees, not tomention enhance productivity. Having worked with a variety of clients across differ- ent industries, I’m learning that it’s OK to respectfully push people out of their comfort zones by increasing or decreasing the amount of privacy opportunities within a space, as long as you’re making informed design decisions in response to their specific needs and culture, backed by support from leadership. \\ Design Forward