ERMC is a privately owned, total facility management services company headquartered in Chattanooga, TN that has delivered on the promise of “creating safe, clean and worry-free environments” for clients across the country since 1972. ERMC currently serves a wide variety of industries such as shopping centers, retail centers, commercial buildings, industrial & office centers, airports, and specialized facilities – striving to be a single source provider for all facility services so the customer can focus on their core business. The Office Furniture Works team recently had the privilege of working with ERMC to complete a cubicle installation for their new corporate headquarters in Chattanooga, TN.
Objectives
The Space
ERMC acquired a space previously occupied by a college and underwent an outfitting effort to transform the space into the new corporate headquarters. The end result of the construction process would be an expansive open space with sealed concrete floors and warehouse ceiling, with power run through a ceiling-mounted cable tray.
The People
The new space would be housing departmental staff in an array of systems furniture as well as the executive offices, additional administrative cubicle workstations and space for storage.
Our goal was to create a system of workstations that addressed acoustical workplace design & provided a flexible solution for all departments while coordinating our cubicle installation with the construction and relocation schedules.
Alisa Russell, ERMC
Solutions
Drop Ship & Phased Cubicle Installation
The construction schedule for outfitting the space gave our team a significant amount of time to prepare, which was helpful for making sure our installation didn’t lag over into the time frame for relocating employees. We knew to expect a lead time and a firm window for completing the installation, so we opted to drop ship the cubicles directly to the facility to expedite installation and save money on delivery.
8 x 8 Cubicle Workstations
The main components of the system installed were 8ft. x 8ft. cubicles with framed glass panels, featuring 30″x72″ rectangular work surfaces with adjoining cockpit corner and double pedestal file cabinets. The panels have power run from the ceiling, giving each workstation a personal receptacle and work surface cable management. Arranged in rows by department, the cubicle “pods” alternate worksurface orientation on either side of the spine to maintain a more open layout while conserving square footage.
8 x 16 Cubicle Workstations
At the end of each “pod” of cubicle workstations are 8ft. x 16ft. cubicles for department VP’s. These workstations feature the same components as 8 x 8 cubicles with a slight variation: by re-orienting the pedestal file cabinets side-by-side and adding a bullet-top worksurface with post-leg support, the cubicle becomes a u-group workstation with plenty of room to spread out and host visitors. Other unique workstations in the project include a transaction-top workstation for reception and a slew of administrative cubicles.
High-Density Filing System
The pinnacle of bespoke office storage solutions. High-density filing systems encompass modular shelving mounted on a track, with 3-spoke wheels on the end panel assembly for moving 10,000 lbs. of shelving with 1 lb. of effort. This arrangement allows a (roughly) 600 sq. ft. room to house approximately 2,500 sq. ft. of stacked filing and storage space.
Sound Masking System
After the outfit, the acoustical challenges presented by an open warehouse space with lofty ceilings remained. To combat the noise pollution inherent to any open space with many occupants, we devised a sound masking layout – the highlighted objects hanging from the ceiling that resemble white can lights. These are 5″ speakers that eliminate standing waves and metallic resonance by emitting an unobtrusive background noise. This achieves the effect of dampened noise distractions from one zone to another, essentially making speech less intelligible and less distracting between departments.
Results
“ERMC’s goal for the new space was to promote collaboration between all employees regardless of what department or title. Our old office was segmented by office walls and tall cubicles. You could go an entire day without speaking to or seeing some of your coworkers. The new open floor-plan is to break-down those barriers and foster an environment where collaborating with your coworkers is normal and comfortable.”
– Alisa Russell, ERMC
Thanks for Reading!
At Office Furniture Works, we’re striving to be businesses’ one-stop shop for responding to the challenges posed by growth, change & relocation. Do you have a workspace that isn’t working as hard as you are?