From the Scene: July 17, 2008
by Bill McNew, ASHRAE video consultant, DSG Productions

Someone’s vision becomes my reality.

As I drove up to the building today, workers in phosphorescent green t-shirts were transforming the bleak urban landscape into a…park. Sod, trees, ground cover, mulch and pine straw. These are the palette from which they paint and the effect is miraculous. The chain link fence, an eye sore without visual definition, is gone and the property has suddenly become part of its environment. The row of huge Italian cypress on the north side now provides a verdant backdrop to the finished building and the retention ponds promise to be the focal point of the exterior. Who knew?

Inside, it’s clean, paint, varnish and vacuum, as the polish is applied to the interior surfaces. The window washers are turning opaque surfaces into air; the outside and the inside blend in visual harmony.

Upstairs, the finished cubicles are complete with the new, ergonomic chairs. I had to take one for a test drive and I have to say, technology trumps. These chairs are comfortable and supportive at the same time, with an array of adjustments to suit the most grumpy.

An excellent example of crafty craftsmanship: each cubicle is furnished with a two drawer…file cabinet? Safe? It does lock and it’s on wheels, making it very easy to slide under the work surface where it will nominally live. The cool thing is the top. Each one is upholstered in a nice, nubby black material with padding for the un-padded. What for? Duh. It’s a seat for visitors! I love the dual functionality!

The design of the space has become more evident, too. Upstairs, the cubicles surround an island of common use spaces: rest rooms, meeting rooms, conference rooms, copy stations, and so forth. I particularly like the little three-seat mini conference rooms. They’re just so…cute, I guess.

Downstairs is more of the same. The floor in the heavy use areas is a very interesting, rubberized material with designs inlaid into the black. These inlays; cream, green and blue, give the floor a kind of game board appearance; nicely breaking up what would have been a sea of mono-chrome.

This was, in all probability, my last photographic session. The staff is planning on moving back in next week and Hugh assures me all will be ready. Hugh is a man of his word. As I said goodbye to the many craftsmen I’ve come to know over this ten months’ assignment, I reflected on what these men and women have wrought. From bare earth and a hollow shell, they have recreated a modern, aesthetically pleasing, energy efficient work place. It is a testament to everyone involved…and there are too many to name or even count. We lay people take all this for granted…the sky scrapers, the bridges, the dams and monuments. We gaze on them and criticize as though we know or could have done better. We cannot. These men and women, these architects and engineers, these designers and planners; these men who work on high steel and heavy equipment, these women who drive giant trucks and paint shaded walls…the plumbers and electricians and IT people and communications workers…these are the builders and makers of our world. Thank God they love what they do.