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Page 20 — Property Management Quarterly — July 2017
Construction Trends
W hat in the world is going
on with office space?
What does “traditional
office” even mean any-
more? In the last decade,
we’ve experienced significant
changes to the construction style of
office space, and the emergence of
alternative workspaces look like the
changes have just begun.
As a tenant improvement general
contractor, we’ve had front row
seats to watch this transformation.
We saw the traditional office envi-
ronment trend toward open con-
cept. We then watched office build-
ings experiment with open ceilings,
raw floors and exposed walls. Now
the collaborative
work environment
seems to be incor-
porating these fea-
tures and adding
even more twists.
The exposed con-
cept, often referred
to as industrial,
began in the 1960s
with the repurpos-
ing of old factories
for residential lofts
and apartments.
Rather than focus
on the conceal-
ment of the bones of a building, this
new trend focused on the inherent
functionality over
form of factory
buildings, present-
ing a new aes-
thetic that tran-
scended residen-
tial and became
quite common
in commercial
design. Retail was
first to join the
trend. I remember
when restaurants
started moving
toward this design
and thinking cyni-
cally to myself,
“Well, that’s one way to cut remodel
costs.” However, after years of esti-
mating and constructing industrial-
designed spaces, it is very apparent
this style often costs significantly
more.
The inevitable question is: How
much more? This is difficult to
quantify as each project has many
different factors at play – ever heard
a contractor say that? – but since
we all want numbers, I’ll reluctantly
oblige.
Let’s first set a benchmark of $30
to $40 per square foot to remodel
a traditional space staying within
the same style. To convert this same
space to an exposed concept could
increase construction costs by $10
to $30 per sf. Many wonder why get-
ting rid of walls and ceilings would
cost more.
Construction of raw space isn’t as
simple as gutting the walls and ceil-
ings. What ends up being exposed
needs to be clean, safe and visually
pleasing. Since the ceiling is com-
pletely exposed, abandoned pipes
and wires must be removed back to
their source. Duct work often will be
upgraded to spiral ducting. Lighting
fixtures can no longer lay into ceil-
ing grid, so new fixtures are needed
throughout. Sprinkler heads need
to be turned up to cover the ceiling.
Often, the newly exposed ceiling
elements are fully painted.
Exposing the concrete floors isn’t
easy either. Carpet glue, tile mor-
tar and mastic must be ground
down and rough surfaces smoothed
over. The surface now needs to
be stained, polished or sealed. If
exposing exterior walls is desired,
the electrical needs to be ran
through conduit. The rooms that do
remain or will be built most likely
need privacy. Soundproofing for
conference rooms, huddle rooms
and IT will need walls to deck or
insulation and sound boots.
After this process is complete
and the raw space is, well, finished,
there are still more elements that
need to be built into this new envi-
ronment to be considered collab-
orative. Kitchens and break rooms
are no longer hidden but instead
are open with islands and bars for
employees to gather. Game rooms,
lounges and huddle rooms are all
deliberately designed within it.
Collaborative workspace isn’t just
a cavernous, empty room; it’s pur-
poseful in its design elements to
encourage natural interaction. The
exclusion of physical barriers like
walls and cubicles plays a big part
in collaborative design.
Alternative workspaces will con-
tinue to evolve, as we have seen
Bob Bergeson
Executive vice
president of tenant
improvement, The
Vertex Cos. Inc.,
Denver
Ashley Combs
Business
development
associate, The
Vertex Cos. Inc.,
Denver
Ryan Mele, Vertex
Exposed ceilings, as seen here at the Blake Street Ballpark Spaces office, often require a lot
of clean up, including abandoned pipes and wires being removed back to their source, spiral
duct upgrades and new lighting fixtures throughout.