PACOIMA, CA—Mole-Richardson Co., an entertainment lighting manufacturer, is moving from its Hollywood office location, where it has operated for 88 years, to a new headquarters facility in Pacoima, CA. Located at 12154 Montague Street, the new 36,000-square-foot facility will incorporate a variety of office trends, from increased meeting areas for employees and a welcoming reception space for entertaining to ample natural light throughout the interior. To incorporate the latest office trends and create a modern space, Mole-Richardson has tapped H. Hendy Associates to design the interior. Mole-Richardson is the latest company to opt for a more open, modern and collaborative work environment. So, to find out more about the company's new modern space, why companies everywhere are upgrading their offices and the dominant trends in office design, we sat down with Heidi Hendy, the founding principal at H. Hendy Associates for an exclusive interview. Here is what she told us:

GlobeSt.com: What was your vision for Mole-Richardson's new space?

Heidi Hendy: The most important goal for Mole-Richardson's headquarters was to unite the team in a space that would foster their strong company culture and pride of industry.

As designers we were constantly reminding ourselves of the deep pride that an industry leader like Mole-Richardson feels in not only the quality for their Academy Award winning lighting products, but in the film business that they serve. This is a brand that is truly the Bentley of the motion picture lighting industry and no matter what an employee's function is in
Mole-Richardson's operation, their brand pride is strong, and this adds a magic to their company culture that we were dead set on protecting through their move, and fostering in the new space.

Our new design for Mole-Richardson honors their culture and heritage through a museum that highlights the company's landmark technological innovations, commemorate milestone productions that have used Mole-Richardson lighting and memorialize the company's former “old Hollywood,” Art Deco headquarters. The company's deep enthusiasm for innovation is also reflected in the adjacent showroom, where we focused on creating an equally important ode to the future of Mole-Richardson, and the company's ever-evolving technology.

Mole-Richardson's move would also present the opportunity to leverage the benefits of working entirely out of one building. As the team expanded over the 88 years that they spent in their previous space, the company's office had become crowded and fragmented, creating little chance for fluid interaction between departments. To encourage increased collaboration in Mole-Richardson's new space, the design strategically places impromptu meeting areas, including high-top tables and lounge furniture, at each corner in the office to allow for natural and ample interaction among departments.

For a company that is continuously achieving, and being honored and recognized, it was also important to design an effective entertainment space where employees can celebrate as a team and with clients.

Almost all of the design decisions at Mole-Richardson centered on the key objectives of preserving their strong culture, pulling the team together, and providing a space that would technologically and physically carry them into their next chapter of growth.

GlobeSt.com: What interior design features are office tenants looking for today?
Hendy: There has been a major trend in transitioning the office from a formal, corporate space to a more casual, comfortable place that employees enjoy coming to each day. Employers have found that space that caters to the way that employees work boosts productivity and engagement throughout the office – resulting in better results for the employee and the company.

In the past, workspace design was based on creating space that would maximize benefit for individual activities. Now, we're creating space that is designed to the specific activities of the firm. We recognize that instead of spending their entire day in a cubicle, employees now work in different ways. Studies have shown that employees are now spending 60 to 70 percent of their time in the office away from their desk.

Because employees are now more mobile than ever, office design has shifted to accommodate that need while also promoting business processes. Now, we're including different types of workspaces within each office that each promotes a separate kind of activity.

It's important to include space for focused concentration, as well as ad hoc meeting areas and multi-utilization spaces that allow for impromptu collaboration and team trainings. These spaces must be agile and flexible to meet the organization's demands. Today's office must also contain highly cognitive meeting rooms that contain moveable furniture, writeable surfaces for brainstorms and the appropriate connections to technology.

GlobeSt.com: How are you incorporating technology into your office designs?

Hendy: Technology is an integral aspect of a functional office design. Employees are now more mobile than ever, and a well-designed office space will not only accommodate that mobility, but promote it. As more and more companies are moving away from desktops and desk phones to laptops and handheld devices, employees are becoming untethered. As a result, it's imperative that at every touch down space in an office, there must be the ability to connect to technology in some way.

WiFi and access to company documents via remote access are now standard office practices that enable employees to stay connected and productive while “working anywhere.” But, we're also beginning to incorporate other technologies into our office designs, including adding screens to display presentations or shared documents at meeting spots, and noise mitigating technologies to absorb some of the sound that a collaborative office space can create.

Technology can truly change the way that we work. For example, at Goodman Birtcher North America's Irvine, California headquarters we designed a completely collaborative, activity-based workspace, and upgraded its technology systems to support that move. As a result, the company has been able to go almost completely paperless and employees can truly work anywhere in the space, allowing for the flexibility that today's workforce demands.

GlobeSt.com: What are some of the challenges of working with companies to design office spaces that are both functional and fit the company culture? How do you overcome those challenges?

Hendy: First and foremost, when designing an office space for a company, you cannot take down the company's culture. In fact, the culture is often the most crucial element to preserve. Designing a new headquarters for Mole-Richardson was about completely understanding the magic behind the brand and the root of the pride that seems to pull the company together. Mole-Richardson is a family business that has been fueled by its deep pride of industry and pride of product for three generations, and the entire team, from the employees that work in the warehouse to the top executives treat the team with the comradery and respect—and even sentimentality—that many reserve for family. Creating a new home for a mature culture like theirs is a big responsibility, and we were thrilled to help the company realize its vision for the future as it takes this important step.

GlobeSt.com: What are some of the emerging office design trends you expect to see more of this year?

Hendy: There is always more to learn about how to design spaces that fit employees' needs and increase productivity. As the cost of building out spaces and conducting renovations increases, we expect that employers will continue to demand office renovations that provide a return on investment in the form of increased productivity and employee engagement.

Individual workspaces will continue to shrink in exchange for more useful shared workspaces, such as meeting rooms and brainstorming areas, which will take up more and more of the office footprint. Over time, we expect that offices will continue to become even more focused on activity-based spaces.

Companies are also starting to recognize their office space as a tool for promoting their brand and supporting their company culture. This is what we saw at Mole-Richardson. Most leaders are in tune with the importance of branding and culture, but it is easy to overlook the impact that your physical space can have on each of these pieces of your company's health and success.

Offices now include more spaces to celebrate achievements and entertain clients and employees – both of which help to maintain a positive environment in the office.
Mole-Richardson was thrilled that their work space could incorporate a museum feature to tell their company story, a showroom area to energize future innovation and strategic adjacencies to promote team collaboration and continued engagement.

What's next for office is the increased understanding of how much an effective space really can do for the core goals that the company has in mind for where they want to go next.