In addition to the presidential mandate to shed unused space and the Telework
Enhancement Act that encouraged a more distributed workforce, Martha Johnson,
GSA's administrator at the time, floated the challenge — an admitted "moonshot"
— of consolidating all of GSA's D.C.-area employees into one location. Her goal, in
addition to reducing costs, was to help to break the idea that work and place is the
same thing.
"Work is an activity, and then there's this place called 1800 F," said John Vivadelli, the
president of AgilQuest, the provider of the Smart Occupancy and Smart Buildings
technology behind GSA's BookIT. "By breaking those bonds, [they could] use that
infrastructure to support new ways of working in the most efficient way possible."
In the early stages of the building renovation, led by Shalom Baranes Associates
and which was underway before GSA made the decision to consolidate, they moved
half of the employees out of the existing 1800 F Street building and into temporary
swing space. Here, the employees had to key in and out, and according to Chuck
Hardy, the chief workplace officer for GSA, this was where the fun started.
W W W. W O R K D E S I G N . C O M 0 7
Consolidating Six Buildings
into One and Breaking the
Bond between Work and Place
