Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1156106
October/November/December 2019 I 49 BlueSky would be a major improvement project on all GP-occupied floors and to many common systems at GP Center. It would significantly improve the work environment for employees and enhance the company's position both as a great place to work and as a top office building in downtown. More importantly, it would provide a more effective environment for the company to grow and create value by enabling greater productivity, innovation and new ways of working. Most of GP's major competitors for talent had workspaces that were significantly more updated than theirs. The new GP Center would be designed and equip- ped to accommodate the way people are working now and will work in the future. Employees would be able to thrive in any setting with minimal productivity loss from signing in and navigating their new-found digs. They would also be able to choose the environment where they would be most productive, thanks to mult- iple available workspace options. A NEW WAY TO WORK BlueSky began in 2017 and was completed in 2019. The remodel covered 23 floors and roughly 558,000 square feet of office space, which seats about 3,100 employees. In addition, 186,000 square feet of workspace was opened up for company growth or third-party leases. Most of the GP-occupied floors had not received significant improvement investments since the company opened in 1982. The space was not configured efficiently or designed for the technology and work habits of today's collaborative and mobile workforce. And, the building's heating and air conditioning, wiring, lighting, restrooms, break rooms, furniture and fixtures all needed replacing. To assist with the remodel, GP created a project team consisting of a workplace design firm and internal repre- sentation from corporate real estate, human resources, information technology, facilities management, corporate communications and public affairs, tax, and represen- tatives of other groups involved in recent renovations to other floors. In addition, each business and capability team had a representative collaborating with the project team on the specific needs of their group. A group of employees was also assembled to be an extension of the project team; all of the chosen workers were picked specifically because of their ability to influence others and help drive important changes in office culture, work habits and etiquette in the new space. Together, the groups worked on a renovation that addressed myriad problems within GP Center's current workspace. The updated version replaced dated design and infrastructure with modern office designs and furniture, and it added new energy-efficient ventilation and lighting; many of the infrastructure systems were at the end of their useful lives before the remodel. Solid walls blocking natural light were removed. Taking down those walls improved the ventilation around floors for better heating and air conditioning. Updated floor layouts brought in multiple types of workstations and workspaces for greater collaboration and teamwork, while still providing space for quiet, confidential work and conversations (Figure 1). By reconfiguring the existing GP space, leadership could also consolidate its teams on fewer floors and free up additional space. FIGURE 1: Redesigned main office space. New bathrooms and break rooms are now equipped with innovative new IoT-enabled products, improving hygiene, wellness, and operational costs. They are cleaner, fresher and equipped with hands-free dispensing systems to prevent germs and cross-contamination. Overall con- sumption of energy, water, consumables, and janitorial labor is expected to decline with these improvements, thus reducing operating costs and freeing up those resources for other uses.