CREJ - Building Dialogue - March 2015
The Bureau of Land Management partnered with the U.S. General Services Administration, the federal government’s landlord, to consolidate and renovate its space at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood to better accommodate the work of its employees. BLM occupied both Building 40 and 50 at the DFC. Once complete, BLM will reduce the amount of space it uses by close to 40,000 square feet, giving taxpayers an annual rent savings of about $445,000. To provide 430 BLM employees with a modern, productive, comfortable workplace while reducing space and rent payments, GSA conducted an employee engagement study. Results of the study were then incorporated into the design of the space. In addition to space and cost savings, the project will result in space that better accommodates BLM’s mission and work processes. For example, elements currently under-represented for employees are things like right-sized conference rooms and breakroom amenities, which are now included in the design. Efforts were also made to open the floor plan to allow natural light into the space as much as possible. Construction started in December 2013 and will be phased so that BLM employees can continue to occupy the space during construction. The project is scheduled to be complete in November. Construction services were awarded to E-Corp., a U.S. Small Business Administration 8(a) firm. The furniture contract was awarded to Steelcase. The furniture design was a collaborative effort among the contracted furniture vendor, GSA’s in-house designer, and representatives of the BLM. Using the engagement study and architectural design as the backbone of the layout, GSA provided material and design selections that accommodated BLM’s divisional functionality, such as amounts of desk space and storage, and minimum heights of workstation partitions (union-negotiated). Features of the new space include: • Central multipurpose social and meeting hub. • Additional conference and huddle rooms. • Wi-Fi throughout entire space. • Reduced workstation sizes. • Workstations with low panels heights to increase access to daylight and collaboration among employees. • Private offices for executive leadership only. • Updated HVAC via ESPC. • Updated lobby, way-finding, and space connectivity. BLM and GSA goals are to renovate and improve building interiors and systems furnishings while reducing employee footprint and consolidating occupied space that result in rent savings to BLM and, ultimately, the taxpayer.