CADIZ XPLR (ISSUE 003, WINTER 2021)

R O A D

CREATIVITY

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INNOVATION

A H E A D

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T H E

DESIGN SCIENCE

WINTER 2021 ISSUE 003

A R C H I T E C T U R E

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I N T E R I O R S

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L A N D S C A P E

© 2021 by Cadiz Collaboration All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of the whole or any part of the contents of this publication without written permission of the copyright holder is prohibited.

CONTENTS

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2021 THE ROAD AHEAD

INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA ABRAMS: MINDCLICK : HEALTH

BY DESIGN

PRODUCTS WE LOVE: PHILIP JEFFERIES WALL COVERING

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SLEEP + HOSPITALITY

EVOLVING OFFICE PARKS AND CORPORATE CAMPUSES

CASE STUDY: CADIZ OPENING CAMBRIA NAPA

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CADIZ XPLR RUG COLLECTION LAUNCH

RHA + LCI PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: CENTERVIEW

2021 THE ROAD AHEAD

Beginnings always get me excited. There’s a thrill when we start a project, meet a new client, conceptualize a product, or commence a brand-new year. This season at Cadiz, our focus is on the future. I think one of our many lessons from 2020 is that slow is the new fast. This concept is sometimes uncomfortable, but in times of quiet we can celebrate all that we’ve accomplished as individuals and as a community and forge ahead.

A year of pandemic has exemplified just how important our health and wellbeing are. In this issue, we examine the importance of sleep in hospitality as well as in our homes. Americans are notoriously sleep deprived, but many studies over the years clearly outline how a great night’s sleep fosters our mental and emotional resilience. Adding a design focus to nourish our wellbeing is a critical element in our sleep environments.

Our partners at RHA and LCI discuss their work on Centerview Plaza and the reinvention of office parks and campuses. The trends in this area embrace a cultural shift to create a more dynamic, happy, healthy, and engaged future workforce.

We also had the pleasure to interview JoAnna Abrams with Mindclick: Health by Design. She’s doing important work bringing new thinking, vetted tools, and resources to the industry. Designers can share these resources with their client to demonstrate they’re building sustainability right into their design process and within their budgets, delivering a positive health story for people and the planet.

Last year asked more of us than anticipated. Contracting COVID-19 myself in late November put me to the test. But despite our challenges, we’ve spent quality time reflecting, pivoting, and reinventing and today we feel more purposeful, grounded, and abundant.

This year we’ll continue to share content that unites us instead of divides us, and stories that serve to inspire, ignite our curiosity, and bring beauty and craft to the space that we live, laugh, and work in. We invite you to delve into this issue and, along with all of us, visualize the bright, clear road ahead.

c o l l a b o r a t i o n

Lorraine Francis, AIA, LEED BD+C Design Principal lorraine_francis@cadizcollaboration.com www.cadizcollaboration.com

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With so much anticipation for 2020 to be behind us, I sense that we can’t escape last year quickly enough. Though we have embarked onto a new year, we find our prior year still hanging on in some ways. In a society dependent on instant response and results, we continue to struggle with patience. Yes, we’ve all been locked up for far too long, with direction and promises changing by the minute. But I believe that the sooner we focus on our own actions and results, the sooner we will stop relying on others. As with all expectations, the more we are selfreliant, and less dependent upon others, the sooner we will find accountability and confidence.

For myself, I see 2020 as a year of learning and awareness. It is my hope that I focus more on what I do, and less on what others do. The best way we can make a difference is to control our own destiny- a novel idea. Here is to a new 2021, and hopes for a year of action and personal accountability for us all.

By John Hill, Principal Architect https://www.rhainc.net/about-rha/ our-people/john-steven-hill Robinson Hill Architecture, inc. www.rhainc.net

As designers, we continue to push the boundaries of set and outdated cultural and human behavioral norms during the inception of each and every re-envisioning project. Because land values are and will remain high, today’s clients are often saddled with outmoded corporate office campus properties that are in dire need of not only architectural and landscape architectural re-envisioning, but also a social environmental rebirth.

As these projects tend to increasingly infiltrate our work load pipeline, it made perfect sense to delve into and disseminate the history of our older “built” office park environments, how they came to be, and what functions they served- or rather lack thereof. By doing so, we consequently explored and educated ourselves in the ongoing work cultural-positive trend of office park re-imagining and regenerative metamorphosis. I hope you find this brief literary journey as enjoyable and informative as I have.

By David Salkowitz, Director of Design LandCreative Inc. https://www.landcreativeinc.com 5

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SLEEP + HOSPITALITY Hospitality industry owners and developers are always searching for new avenues to create memorable experiences for their guests, and the growing Sleep Movement offers them a variety of interesting opportunities. The driving factor in the recent focus on great sleep experiences is the recognition of sleep’s benefits to health and wellness including reducing stress; improving cognitive function, creativity, and well-being; and expediting healing.

We know that a great night’s sleep fosters mental and emotional resilience, but it can be difficult to achieve in a hotel environment.

The deepest stages of sleep help boost the immune system, so how can we reduce sleep disruption for our guests? Today’s Hoteliers have great opportunities to increase their guests’ quality of sleep.

According to long-term sleep deprivation studies on animals, lack of sleep can increase the buildup of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. So, sleep is a pretty big deal in our lives, at home or while traveling!

Here are our insights into the importance of both design and technology to create a great night’s sleep for your guests so they awaken revived and ready to explore.

SLEEP + HOSPITALITY

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DESIGN

Color: Color can affect our moods, so it is important to choose guestroom colors that induce sleep and relaxation for your guests.

Using soft color palettes and quiet patterns and profiles within furnishings and finishes can signal your guests to breathe more deeply and to slow down the moment they open the door. Hints of certain colors are known to enhance the sleep environment: blues reduce blood pressure and heart rate, yellows quiet the nervous system, and greens create a connection with nature to bring a sense of calm to your environment.

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Lighting: Lighting has a profound effect on our sleep. Even a small bit of blue light from electronic screens and LED bulbs can reduce melatonin, an important hormone, and disrupt the sleep cycle. If you have an iPhone, we recommend using the Red Color Filter Mode at night.

Installing motion activated night-lights in a proper warm color setting can effectively strike the balance between guest comfort— eliminating the shock of brightness on nighttime trips to the bathroom—and energy savings. An illuminated mirror on a low setting

can also soften a space without making it too dark. For nightstand LED lamps, try bulbs that emit less blue light waves. Good Night Bulb makes a great A19 LED that will last an average of 15,000 hours.

Outside light must also be addressed as light leaks from insufficiently sealed window treatments can interrupt rest, especially in urban environments with street lighting and automobile headlights. Working with knowledgeable drapery manufacturers like Valley Forge or QuiltCraft is a must to achieve a level of 100% blackout.

SLEEP + HOSPITALITY

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Sound and Smell: Lest we forget our other senses, smells and sounds can improve our well-being and sleep quality.

We know lavender reduces stress and anxiety, but a few other calming fragrances include chamomile, geranium, and bergamot. Adding a reading nook or aromatherapy amenities for a soothing bath can help guests settle toward sleep. We have been in development with our partners on a new tea line, Soluna Tea, for a guest turndown service of custom blended herbal teas to induce sleep at night and to elevate energy during the day.

Incorporating soothing sounds throughout public spaces and guestrooms can also aid in sleep. Pink noise is the new black— or the new white, in this case. It is flatter, more even, and less “static” than white. Pink noise enhances brain activity in deep phases of sleep.

Have you heard of a binaural beat? It occurs when the brain processes two slightly different frequencies as a single new tone. Delta (1.5–4 hertz) and Theta (5–8 hertz) waves are best for relaxation into deep REM sleep. Over the past year, we discovered an amazing Bluetooth headband sleep mask, a great amenity to offer your guests. Some hotel brands are partnering with relaxation apps, like Relax Melodies, Calm, Insight Timer, and Headspace, to provide their guests with access to bedtime stories and meditative soundscapes.

SLEEP + HOSPITALITY

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Bed Hygiene: None of the above methods or amenities can make up for an uncomfortable bed. The best hotels will invest in top quality mattresses. Some hotels have developed their own plush mattress sets— gaining them loyal fans—that can be purchased for use at home.

What goes on top of the mattress certainly matters as well, and suppliers like Down Etc offer an education in sleep hygiene and a wide array of comfortable pillows, comforters, mattress pads, and sheeting. Down Etc celebrates the “art of the bed” by creating products and programs designed to provide guests with the foundation for a great night’s sleep. A pillow must meet the individual needs of the sleeper. Down Etc’s unique Pillow Butler® Program

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includes its luxurious collection of pillows, a pillow storage and delivery system, and a customized Pillow Menu listing pillows to suit every guest’s sleep position and needs.

Please, do not forget the pillow and mattress protectors! They are essential for two major reasons: maintaining hygiene—they prevent exposure to dust mites, microbes, and allergens— and protecting your investment in quality pillows and mattresses.

Keeping the room at a comfortable temperature at check-in is also important, particularly for guests with late check-ins. Wireless automated systems can be used to adjust the temperature to the ideal sleep setting of 68–72 degrees at a preprogrammed time.

Guestroom Redesign: This past year has put the guestroom in the forefront of health and wellness for hotels. Cleanliness and comfort are key for design of the future. Designers will now forgo carpeting, throw pillows, blankets, alarm clocks, remote controls, and high-touch surfaces for the ultimate in cleanliness.

Case goods and soft goods will now be simplified to focus on the basics and to provide clean lines and surfaces that are easy to maintain to provide better safety protocols to earn guests’ trust and to give guests peace of mind.

SLEEP + HOSPITALITY

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TECHNOLOGY

IoT: Smart technology embraced by many hotel brands allows hoteliers to tailor the guest experience, collect user data, and view metrics. This helps make more efficient operations that are better received. The IoT (Internet of Things) is the network of physical technical objects that connects and exchanges data with other systems and devices through the Internet.

IoT has been making its way into the hospitality environment in recent years, and it offers some interesting opportunities for capturing data on guests’ sleep experiences.

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Brands like Hilton and Marriott have been developing IoT rooms with many customizable features. It is possible that personalized-lighted artwork that dims at night can help guests fall asleep and that special blue-toned lighting that appears in the morning can help them wake up gradually.

Sensor technology can recognize when a guest leaves the bed at night and turn on automatic nightlights to illuminate the path to the guest bath.

This type of technology can also sense occupancy levels in the room and adjust oxygen levels.

Smart Technology: This allows guests to adjust lighting, temperature, and humidity or to open and close window treatments through Alexa-enabled voice prompts or integrated apps.

Apps like these can also deliver metrics that help improve guest stays in many ways, including providing a quality sleep experience. Imagine knowing how many times a user woke during the night or adjusted climate controls.

That data could be used to establish guest preferences for a particular hotel brand, increasing loyalty and frequency of stay. Technology could conceivably make guest predictions based on their recorded habits.

As with all technology, there is a fine line to walk regarding privacy and data security of which hoteliers need to remain cautious. As technologies are rolled out, there will be challenges that require adjustments. Upgrades that relate to the experience of sleep may be more likely to have staying power. While entertainment trends and technology are always adapting, the need for a restful night of sleep is an ageless one.

The more we can do to ensure healthy sleep is achieved, the more return guests we will create. And a happy, wellrested guest is more likely to increase brand loyalty through word-of-mouth and positive online reviews.

SLEEP + HOSPITALITY

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CADIZ XPLR RUG COLLECTION LAUNCH

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We are excited to unveil our new product design collection: cadizXPLR. This spring we are launching our first collection of rugs made in the USA and soon we will expand our capsule collection to include lighting, textile, wall-covering and affordable luxury home goods.

Our rugs are directly influenced by weaving techniques, that date back to the early days of Americas first settlers to help warm the floors of their homes. These industrious women passed down their treasured rugs and braiding techniques through the generations, creating the first true examples of American rug-making. We wanted to honor the rich tradition of craftsmanship while re-envisioning form, color, and texture to create a modern, revitalized collection. Our dream is to bring a feeling of adventure, joy and easy living into hotels and everyday life.

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Cadiz has worked to push the envelope of shape, texture, and color in a series of original patterns that seek to add an element of the unexpected. Our designs combine classic techniques like braiding and cabling with the thoughtful use of negative space, deconstructing and combining classic forms in new ways, and injecting playful color combinations.

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CADIZ XPLR RUG COLLECTION LAUNCH

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We’ve loved exploring and learning during the design processes creating hounds tooth tweeds, multi-tone cables, and textured braids that comprise our first collection of XPLR rugs. Exploring new ways of approaching a timehonored tradition has resulted in an energetic array of surprising forms, all proudly made with our partner in the USA. You will also love our natural wool-blend fibers and Sunbrella outdoor yarns for an affordable high-end look, with long lasting qualities for years to come.

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CADIZ XPLR RUG COLLECTION LAUNCH

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INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA ABRAMS:

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JoAnna Abrams is an award-winning leader, entrepreneur, business strategist, and innovator with a deep passion for using the power of big data analytics to drive brand equity and move beyond the status quo. That passion inspires MindClick, an environmental health product intelligence company committed to empowering suppliers and their customers’ marketing, design, sustainability, and supply chain teams with easy-to-understand, easyto-use insights and knowledge needed to meet global demand for healthier products and healthier environments.

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Lorraine Francis: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. So when did you first become interested in sustainability?

LF: Can you tell us a bit about the history of MindClick in terms of its evolution to Design for Health and Hospitality?

JoAnna Abrams: Our foundation as a company is in data research, something called longitudinal studies where you’re tracking the research you’re doing year over year to measure progress and improvement.

We were doing this for Toyota and other automotive companies as sort of a “MindClick 1.0.”

JA: When we realized that organizations needed to understand where they were in their sustainability journeys, we partnered with people who came out of the building products area, which has been at the forefront of the movement. One of the big challenges being faced was getting their arms around all of the ways in which sustainability is measured.

We were evaluating the effectiveness of automotive websites, running annual assessments where you would compare consumer satisfaction of a Lexus site vs. a Porsche site, for example. We then had the opportunity to work on the Prius brand and I became really interested in the reason they created it. Living in Southern California and Santa Monica especially, the Prius was the “it” car at that moment and it kind of woke me up.

I jokingly call myself a “capitalist tree-hugger” because I’m a native Oregonian and it hit me that it would be amazing to do meaningful work and dive into the world of sustainability. Initially we were focused on understanding consumer perspective around sustainability. The team I was working with realized that wasn’t where the demand was, that organizations themselves were trying to figure out what their own sustainability story was. So that’s how it all got started, with getting exposure to the Prius.

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There are so many different aspects of it; the materials, the manufacturing, what happens to the project at the end of its use phase and so on. Based on our expertise in data analytics and technology, we put together a process for measuring sustainability performance for an organization through the lens of a product. We were testing this process and proving the service to a couple of companies in the building product space and in retail.

Then about ten years ago, I met Diana Dobin of Valley Forge Fabrics at one of the first sustainable brands conferences. She talked about all that Valley Forge was doing in the hospitality industry and the challenge they were facing in getting customers to understand not only their commitment to sustainability but what it meant, and also dealing with green washing. I explained what we were doing and she invited us to do it for Valley Forge. She was a

huge contributor in introducing me to the hospitality industry and a lot of key players, including making an introduction to Marriott.

What became clear after working with Valley Forge and getting to know more people in the industry was that we needed to do something even bigger than looking at this from an individual company perspective. We needed to provide a solution so that designers, brands, developers and purchasing companies could have a much easier way to understand sustainability, environmental health, health and wellness, and performance of products and companies. And they needed to be able to compare them so they could ensure these elements were factored in to the specification and purchasing decision process.

LF: I really was honored being part of your original beta group for the initial MindClick website from a designer’s perspective. Can you detail how it transitioned and grew to include Design for Health in hospitality?

JA: Another colleague from my team and I were fortunate enough to be invited to an Interface Hospitality ideation session, a think tank that brought

together thought leaders from hospitality. The purpose was to discuss some of the big challenges that existed in the sector and bring creative, innovative people together to explore what we could do collectively and individually to help address them.

What came out of that was the concept of creating the Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Consortium which was bringing together design firms, architects, purchasing companies, and about 20 manufacturers of furniture, fixtures, and equipment. Right about this time, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson had created a green team to address sustainability and they came out of that with a commitment to define and green their global supply chain.

Brad Colton and Dave Lippert, the VP of Global Design Procurement, took this monumental task on.

I fortunately was connected to them though Diana’s Dobin’s introduction, and they came on board to the consortium. We then created the framework that is called the MindClick Sustainability Assessment Program (MSAP) to measure the social and environmental responsibility of products throughout their entire lifecycle. Marriott adopted MSAP and set a goal in the first two years that 75% of their spend on FF&E products would be with vendors whose products were rated through MSAP.

INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA ABRAMS

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JA: Marriott made it a part of their requirements that if you’re going to be specified for their prototypical brands that you go through MSAP. We recognized that suppliers are doing so much for this process. Not only are they the ones who are making changes in their products, they’re reporting on it annually and they’re going through a rigorous process with us so that there isn’t any green washing. They’re required to verify everything, whether through the use of third-party verifications, or other kinds of testing and documentation, and all of that gets audited. We had always said that we needed to find a way for manufacturers to get an ROI from this and get this out in the marketplace in such a way that it provides not only a point of differentiation, but also a way of supporting the goals of design firms and their clients and of course brands like Marriott.

A little over a year and a half ago, we got the green light from Dave Lippert to expand this beyond the prototypical brands, to make this information available to design teams working on Marriott’s custom projects. And because those specifications are all done by design teams outside of Marriott, they all needed a way to have access to this information that could fit easily into their design process.

Lara Shortall, our VP A&D Solutions, struggled with the same problems when she was a Creative Director leading brand standard development for Starwood Hotels. She wanted to specify healthier products but she and her team couldn’t get through the challenge of sorting through all the different certifications. They simply wanted the answer to which products were better. Since joining our team four years ago, Lara has helped us understand how designers think and work and see the design process through their lens of exploration, discovery, beauty and engagement.

Another key pillar is that everything is based on metrics. Evaluation gives us all a way to see our own progress. We want to celebrate progress and commitment to this because it’s not easy to ask people to think and work differently. The concept of climate change and what it means can be scary for many people, and unfortunately sustainability has been kind of a four letter word for some. Our remedy for that is to celebrate innovation and to recognize that beauty and creativity is a core part of the future and the way in which we need to approach things.

INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA ABRAMS

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LF: That is phenomenal! For me, when I think about my projects, I’m always wondering how the products I’m looking at will rate and how we can measure products from new vendors. It’s great to have a qualified, vetted tool to use to understand our project development better as a team approach.

JA: Yes, and I really want to give a shout out to Marriott and Dave Lippert, who is such a rare person. You don’t find a lot of people who are in a procurement or supply chain role that have the kind of vision that he has. He’s always been really great about saying to suppliers and to us that this is a journey. And that the most important step is to begin the journey and that as we move forward, we’re learning and improving and can then set goals. And our measurements of Starter, Achiever, Leader, are exactly that- the levels you can move through as you continue on the path.

The designers who are looking at this get excited as well and they want projects that are going to be at the Leader level.

LF: With the current landscape focused more toward wellness & health - how have you pivoted with everything that is going on?

JA: This movement was occurring even before 2020 but COVID accelerated that focus on health. There’s been an indoor air quality approach for a number of years, but attention to the Chemicals of Concern (COC) product classification has grown to be of much greater importance. And the impact to the product from various cleaning methods is a factor and we

are recognizing that the market is very interested in how you can factor in durability and performance measurements into an assessment. Add to that the focus on carbon reduction, net zero projects and client demand for data to support their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) initiatives. It can be overwhelming to keep on top of it all.

There’s a careful balance when making changes to what gets measured, but at a minimum, one of the things we are working on is creating a Knowledge Center in Design for Health. The content that shows up here will make it easier for the design community to understand the critical performance criteria by product category and the trade-offs between various product options.

We’re presenting vendor and product environmental impact data in a way that’s easy to understand through access to opinions, points of view, and expertise and we’re actually creating a ‘trade off tool’ where you can put in the goals of the project and see what fits best based upon those requirements. No product is perfect, but the tool helps show what the products and manufacturers are doing that have a positive human and environmental health standpoint.

Beyond this big approaching change I do think there will be a point in the future where there will be additional metrics. For example, healthcare has a very big focus on eliminating Chemicals of Concern like PVC, so how they look at it is a bit different than how hospitality looks at it.

INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA ABRAMS

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LF: How is it trying to empower designers, hoteliers, and manufacturers? What has been the feedback on it from their different perspectives?

JA: Transformation occurs when you bring in new thinking, tools, and resources that minimize disruption, and support innovation and progress.

Design for Health breaks down the process of design from the perspective of design as a business.

The first things you see when you come into the Design for Health website are beautiful photographs of projects that are out there in the market. It will soon go beyond hotels to feature retail sites, senior living, healthcare, and so on. It puts the designer and the people they want to impact front and center with the visual part of the design experience as well as the substance behind it.

We’re featuring these large-scale hotel projects and breaking them down to recognize the vendors whose products are contributing to a positive human and environmental health story.

We celebrate that through the visual exploration of the property and by taking in the specifications of completed projects and matching them to data sets that we have for the products and vendors that we’ve rated. This allows us to determine an overall score for the project that is based on the average performance of the specified products.

Designers can then share these products and tools with their clients to demonstrate they are building sustainability right into their design, and they didn’t go over the budget or timeline to do it.

They can deliver a positive health story for people and the planet by their design choices and give their client a story they can in turn relate to the consumers of those spaces. For projects in the concept or schematic design phases, designers can quickly jump to our vendor library featuring over 150 vendors of FF&E and Architectural Building products. Once there, designers can get a quick view of vendor’s ratings and environmental stories, dive in deep for specific data from each stage of a product’s lifecycle, and compare vendors in a given category.

The next step is that very shortly you’ll be able to register a project, share your project goals, and our Digital Studio for Healthy Design will help you quickly find the vendors and products that best support those goals.

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LF: As a designer that’s really helpful, especially when evaluating vendor companies that aren’t listed. It can really help start an environmentally focused conversation.

JA: Yes, and you are saving hundreds of hours, we’ve done all the hard work for you. And we are working with R&D to eventually make it easy to connect to accessing samples. So when you are in your design development phase, you can get a look at who you might consider and maybe focus on three or four vendors for flooring, for example.

When you put together your preliminary specs, before you present that to the client, you can give that to us and we can tell you how the story of your project is going to look, and how it will score through this lens of health and wellness.

When you present your specs, not only are you presenting your beautiful vision and design aesthetic, but also a story that the client can tell.

We’ve proven that there is an ROI for these stories.

In a case study we conducted with guests of a Courtyard by Marriott, we saw a 150% increase in guest satisfaction scores - including the likelihood of referring that property or returning to it - as a direct result of telling guests about the positive health and environmental impacts of the FF&E products purchased for the hotel. Those products were part of the standard prototype brand package.

In the meantime, design teams can gain more skill in speaking this language and make it a part of the project work and that becomes a differentiator for a design firm’s brand. Design teams can come to the table with a new client and say, ‘We’ve got this covered. You want the story of what the impact is of the supply chain that’s involved in this project, we’ve partnered with MindClick and we can help you do that.’ So now we’re delivering a value add to the business of design. So you can see how Design for Health is delivering a solution for all stakeholders.

LF: I love how the website has become this aesthetically pleasing environment. And I think the whole conversation about sustainability and not living without is interesting. I love that you can embrace this and make it part of your toolkit and still create a beautiful space. I think twenty years ago everyone thought we were going to have cardboard on the wall or cork panels, but we’ve gotten past that.

JA: (Laughing) Right, it’s that fear factor that everything we know is going to be taken away and we’ll go back to living in caves. I can promise you I’m not signing up for that, that’s not my journey.

LF: How is it helping with the buy in from manufacturers? Because you’re providing a tool from them that they don’t have to put into their own system with their own green team so you’re really supporting manufacturers to get there quicker. Has that been your experience?

JA: Yes, there are three key things to take away from this from the perspective of manufacturers.

The first is they’re frustrated by all the costly and time consuming ways people are requesting this information from them. It’s a lot of work and the questions they might get from one developer or one brand versus another are different but they’re all trying to get at the same thing. Manufacturers love the idea of there being an industry-wide solution across the built environment.

The second thing they love is that it gives their teams an internal roadmap and way of prioritizing their own initiative to align with the needs of their clients and customers. So our rating system MSAP has nine metrics that follow the life cycle of a product, including social responsibility-fair labor practices and human rights and manufacturing practices in the specific facilities used to produce the products being specified. Manufacturers are reporting on their efforts to reduce their energy use and reduce their carbon footprint, and to support local environmental regulations and the like. Embracing the understanding that what is local is global and vice versa is really powerful. Not only does it matter deeply in the efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment, it’s helping support the need for environmental data and enhancing their brand image, and competitive differentiation.

The third thing is that we have moved this out of the world of compliance and into the world of marketing and product and manufacturing differentiation. They’re excited about Design for Health because it gives them a platform to leverage their leadership and their commitment to social and environmental responsibility to win business. And at the end of the day, everybody needs a ROI in this. It is people, planet, and profit.

You can’t ignore the profit side of it and this supports them in that journey.

INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA ABRAMS

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LF: How are you differentiating between smaller and larger manufacturers? Since there’s a cost factor and a time factor, how are you helping the smaller manufacturers actually get in the game?

JA: We do have standard list pricing but we work with vendors of various sizes, recognizing that they have different resources internally, different budgets, and the like. We provide a tremendous amount of hand holding where every customer is assigned an account rep who helps them go through our whole program. We also offer additional consulting services because a lot of times some of the smaller organizations are doing it and living it but they just don’t have the documentation or the resources available to put it into a story.

LF: That’s great, I felt green washing in the past led to big firms producing impressive glossy brochures, while smaller firms were sometimes falling to the wayside but already doing great things and not getting recognized for it.

JA: Yes, and we’ve been getting some great testimonials from these vendors and it’s very moving to read what they have to say. Some of them talk about what a difference it’s made in their organization and how excited people are.

We all share Earth as our common home and all have a visceral connection to it.

I think that empowering people to have a seat at the table and feel like they can do something impactful versus feeling helpless is important.

Stepping outside of the doom and gloom mentality does a lot for people’s psyches and they want to be part of something positive.

Some of my best days I have at work are when I get to see these heartfelt vendor responses, because that’s really what it’s all about.

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LF: So how do your ratings work?

JA: It comes out of framework that was developed out of the Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Consortium mentioned earlier that included the US Green Building Council and others. Participating suppliers answer a series of questions about each stage of a product’s life cycle, the impact of the product to the guest, and the operational impact to the hotel.

Does the product help the hotel reduce waste, conserve energy, conserve water and so on, and then what do you do with the product at the end of its useful life?

They answer these questions and provide supporting documentation that our team of auditors reviews against globally accepted sustainability standards covering materials, chemicals of concern, manufacturing, fair labor and human rights practices, packaging, distribution and end of life. As long as the documentation which includes known certifications and eco-labels is sufficient, they get awarded points. It’s a 200 point system, and across the nine metrics, some are weighted heavier than others in terms of their contribution.

We have three ranges of performance- good, better, best is the way to think about it. A Starter is 0-99 points, an Achiever is 100-159 points, and a leader is 160-200 points. All of that information is completely transparent on Design for Health.

So you can come in and see not only the overall ratings but the individual metric ratings for each ‘Product Family’ as we call it. A Product Family has products that share the same material and chemical composition.

LF: How long does it typically take manufacturers to go through process of getting their paperwork together and submitted?

JA: We typically have a 90-day engagement period. We give the vendors 60 days to do the work on their end and we spend the last 30 days in audit and going back and forth with the vendors. Before anything gets published, they have a chance to review what the ratings are.

LF: That’s actually pretty fast. It’s great to hear the process. It’s a lot of paperwork to gather but it keeps them focused.

JA: The good news is that because of our technology expertise, and platform the hardest part is first time you do it. Once you have the data in the system and the documentation, then what you’re doing is an update on an annual basis. There are yearly measurements that have to be updated specific to manufacturing footprints, in addition to any changes in your product composition or your packaging. Data storage and experience makes it an easier process.

LF: Have you had any big ‘a-ha’ moments in the past year that is evolving to where you’re going in 2021?

JA: COVID of course has been the main topic of conversation for many people, but right before that there was a major event that happened in the world of sustainability. We know that money moves markets and Larry Fink, the head of BlackRock, came out in February of 2020 and said that sustainability is so important that it is going to be part of their valuation process. And there was a big flurry of activity that happened concurrently where many well-recognized leaders throughout the business world started announcing that they would be carbon neutral by 2030, or by similar dates.

We anticipate the increased focus on carbon is only going to gain even more traction. We study manufacturing, packaging, and distribution metrics. Thinking about the low-hanging fruit, on average every product uses 30% more packaging than it needs so if you’re just reducing the amount of packaging, you’re not only making a big impact cost wise, you’re able to get more product on a truck. This means less

greenhouse gas emissions, so I anticipate we’re going to have more focus on that. As people start to look closer at carbon, my prediction is there will eventually be a carbon label on products like the nutrition label on foods we eat.

LF: Is there anything else for the future you’re excited about that you like to share?

JA: What we’re most excited about is that through working with Marriott in R&D for the last 6 or 7 years, we’re now bringing this technology to the entire built environment. We’re already working on projects in healthcare, senior living, off campus student housing, and retail. We’re not competing with green building certifications out there, this is all about the furniture, fixtures, equipment and architectural building products items that go into the property once you have four walls up. These elements really haven’t been addressed to the same degree in the market and they really are what the consumer is most directly interacting with.

In addition, a ground-breaking study was just released highlighting that over the course of an average building’s life span, the carbon footprint of its interiors will equal if not exceed that of the structure’s construction. This finding is generating a lot of buzz, including a call to action to the interior design industry by the editor-in-chief of Metropolis Magazine. We’re in a big expansion mode now to support this.

LF: That’s so needed. To me the hospitality industry has been a bit slower in the sustainable arena when compared to other industries so having a reputable tool that is vetted is such an important way to get knowledge to designers, hoteliers and manufacturers. It’s fantastic. Thank you so much for the great information and your passion and time.

JA: Thank you so much for taking time to learn more about Design for Health. We believe design has the power to transform lives for the better, and we’re really excited to help make this possible for the hospitality industry - and all sectors of the built environment.

INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA ABRAMS

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EVO LVI N G OFFICE PARKS AND CORPORATE CAMPUSES

By David Salkowitz from LandCreative, Inc.

Over the later part of the last decade, there has been a sharp rise in the popularity of re-imagined office parks and corporate campuses to such a significant degree that they appear to have evolved into a permanent part of today’s innovative overall “re-built’ environment. In this exploration, we’ll focus on their associated outdoor spaces and examine the history, current status, details, and future of these increasingly diverse and engaging social activity centers.

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HISTORY OF OFFICE PARKS AND CAMPUSES Not so long ago, the idea of offering usable public space in an office building or dedicated corporate environment was a foreign one. During the 1950s, when the idea of business/office parks were first implemented, the focus on adjacent exterior areas was merely functional, serving to provide ample parking and walkways for access to the office areas themselves. At the end of the traditional 8 hour work day, there were certainly no social or recreational advantages to staying within the confines of the park, nor were those types of advantages expected.

The first business park was opened in 1955 in Mountain Brook, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. For the first time, workers could avoid driving into a congested downtown area with challenging and costly parking and long walks to high-rise buildings. Instead, they could drive through more pastoral scenery and park mere steps away from their work space.

This level of perceived convenience was nothing short of revolutionary at the time and led to these types of office parks cropping up all over the American landscape and abroad.

Over the decades, developers and clients also slowly began to offer more in terms of outdoor spaces. By the 1980s and 90s they began creating corporate landscapes that featured grand fountains, large ceremonial lawns, and other iconic but impersonal elements. While these park-like settings made bold architectural statements and could be very visually appealing, they did not encourage much human activity or meaningful interaction.

The location of these business parks also became more and more distant from city centers, where real estate costs were proving prohibitive. It became increasingly attractive to situate these parks at the outskirts of urban areas, or in nearby suburbs. By the turn of the century, less than 40% of commercial office space could be found within cities’ primary downtowns. An almost equal percentage had moved to “edgeless” areas, sprawling urban spaces that lacked defined borders.

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In both urban and more remote settings, the ceremonial, park-like design trend continued through the next several decades, utilizing lush garden spaces, lakes and other large water features, and incorporating sculpture and other expressive forms but this trend did not advance to the level of actively supporting or programming the spaces. While some employees may have taken incidental advantage of certain spaces for brief walks or lunch breaks, they remained a largely decorative aspect of corporate life.

Concurrently, another form of business development had been evolving in the form of corporate campuses. The earliest such campus was Bell Labs in New Jersey, created by AT&T in 1942. While more traditional business parks were typically a conglomeration of buildings housing multiple unrelated companies, campuses were particular to singular businesses and quickly began offering cafeterias, service facilities, and leisure activities.

The meteoric rise of dotcoms and other tech companies in the 90s built upon those ideals and also actively reinvented the way business green spaces were developed and utilized. With a focus on offering increased amenities and specialized activities to their workforce, they created fully immersive environments in “Ivory Tower” university-style spaces closed to the general public. This led to creating a culture of flexible scheduling and socializing where employees often worked and collaborated for extended hours, eased by the many services and conveniences provided on the campus.

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EMERGING TRENDS AND WHAT DRIVES THEM Interestingly, in the past five years, we have begun to see more modern trends in office parks and established amenities from corporate campuses beginning to merge, and mixed-use developments become more attractive to both sectors. This type of synergy and cultural shift serves to create more dynamic, healthy, and robust outdoor spaces for use by a larger audience than just localized employees, and we expect to see much continuation and expansion within this growing movement.

There are several factors contributing to the changes in office park and corporate campus planning and design that we have been recently seeing. An emerging new generation of office owners is highly educated regarding competitive services within the market and is finding ways to curate, provide, and program them. In turn, new generation companies are looking for office spaces that include creative amenities to help them attract employees. Offering these types of advanced perks creates more comfort and balance in workers’ work/life environment, which fosters a happier, healthier, and more engaged workforce.

Millenials in particular are aware of a wide range of potential amenities and tend to seek them when considering a new employer. They are able to see a park or campus in a way that older generations can be less aware of, and not just in term of Instagram moment worthy photo-ops. Attitudes towards employment have shifted in recent years to recognize that satisfaction entails far more than a paycheck, especially as productivity demands are on the rise. In order to expect employee commitment and focus towards corporate goals, it is now accepted that certain conveniences and services must be found within easy access of the office itself.

Corporations and tech start ups with closed campuses have been visually and practically expressing their culture indoors for decades now, but they are now expanding their aesthetic into their adjacent outdoor spaces in unique and innovative ways. Big players like Google and Facebook are planning mixed-use campuses that feel more like town, including not just office space but transit centers, retail spaces, grocery stores, housing, parks, playgrounds, and event spaces. These changes are largely influenced by the talent they are looking to attract, who want to live and work in an environment that feels more like a true community. In order to lure employees away from dynamic urban centers, corporations need to create true “people spaces” where practical and social human needs are met in a more comprehensive way.

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Another aspect of these changes involves the need for large companies to consider the nearby community surrounding their campuses.

Rather than continuing to foster resentment from outside neighbors who see traditional campuses as exclusive enclaves that can disrupt their daily lives without giving back, these new campus models seek to open up services to non-employee community members. In this way both their employees and neighbors benefit from the opportunity to interact and engage one another, and break down the “us vs. them” mentality that has understandably arisen in some tech-adjacent neighborhoods.

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Community-consciousness also drives similar trends in office/business parks. As population density in urban areas rises, mixed-use developments are increasing in popularity.

Office park owners are seeing the benefits from providing open spaces with programming that

can serve the community. These spaces drive traffic to their lessees’ retail establishments and restaurants and create a more vibrant social climate amongst employees and neighbors.

Civic planners are also encouraging housing developments near these types of office parks, which can also encourage more foot traffic and reduce carbon emissions.

A coincidental advantage in the development of outdoor office park and campus spaces like these is that although these trends began before the COVID-19 pandemic, there will likely be a practical need for spacious outdoor gathering opportunities for the near future, which may well give way to a developed preference for these types of open-air spaces.

Given that emerging diseases have proven to be increasing, having increased access to developed green spaces in this shifting environment will continue to be advantageous.

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MODERN PROGRAMMING AND TENANCY While it may appear simple to devise a list of unique and exciting amenities, developers and owners must commit to properly program and manage these amenities in order to have successful and attractive properties. Facilitating and managing programs can require a broad range of involvement depending on the number and type of services that are being offered.

Gone are the days of simply providing tenants with keys to a new office space and coordinating routine building maintenance.

Now developers have a wide range of considerations when building or upgrading business parks and their adjacent open spaces. In the planning stages, eliciting feedback from the public helps identify a realistic vision for the local community. There can be varied needs for the particular location including accommodating transportation modes, providing connectivity to adjacent developments, parking management for both daytime and nighttime uses, and providing venues for cultural expression and engagement through creative placemaking.

Developers recognize that being on the forefront of new design trends and ideas is important not just for high tech entrepreneurs and their employees but for smaller up-and-coming start-up companies as well. Accordingly, they are finding ways to enliven business parks through budgeting for many different types of concierge and entertainment services. These can range from organizing meet-and-greet events with

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live music for employees and neighbors to bringing in weekly foods trucks to curating regular outdoor fitness classes.

These amenities and services embrace the new social thinking of the work place, which marries productivity with social activity and entertainment with an eye for the unexpected through artful execution. These programs and perks also foster wellness, which typically leads more successful companies and employee satisfaction. All of these connected improvements help to create value for the office space lessor/ developer as prosperous companies expand their square footage and seek longer term lease extensions as they develop and grow.

While there is no one ideal office park or campus, in looking at our own developing projects and those in our local California market, there are some common individual components, amenities, and services that have been increasing in popularity.

These include inclusion of generous green spaces, private open-air areas, flexible meeting spaces, concierge and personal services, transportation services, wellness programs, food and beverage access, and entertainment.

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POPULAR AMENITIES AND SERVICES The physical outdoor space is the most obvious feature when we think of campuses and business parks, but it has come a long way from the more ceremonial style of early parks and has been taking on new forms in recent years. The focus has shifted from mere ornamentation to usable spaces that enhance worker’s health and experience.

This includes a variety of features including promenades and wellness trials, outdoor tech-friendly meeting spaces, landscaped entryways, gardens, and areas for more secluded reflection.

Providing these types of flexible working and lounging areas inspires productivity, as does the addition of private balconies and patios on the office level. Bringing nature back into the office environment provides a biophilic connection that improves general well being. Some offices and campuses are recognizing that bringing pets to work can boost morale, and having green spaces that are dog friendly can be a major attraction for pet owners and lovers alike.

More and more developers are offering full concierge and personal services as well. If you need your dry cleaning picked up, a delivery of an item from a local retailer, or your car washed, it can all be easily arranged with complimentary concierge service. Transportation services are a key aspect of successful programming at these sites and some office parks and campuses even have environmentally friendly auto-spa services for detailing and cleaning and vehicle charging stations. Taking it to a greener direction, some offer rideshare drop-off and bike repair stations and lockers for added convenience.

Wellness and fitness is another important focus for outdoor spaces and many campuses and parks have included free fitness centers with a variety of group classes on-site. Equipped with showers and locker rooms, these facilities allow users to fit in a workout at various times of day before heading back to the office.

Programmed wellness initiatives from developers help encourage healthy lifestyle shifts that can make a difference in creativity and productivity.

From a culinary perspective, on-site cafes and restaurants are increasingly present and popular, but outdoor spaces are also being planned with designated adaptable spaces for added variety.

Food truck runways are an exciting new innovation that provides variety for employees and locals, as do the inclusion of monthly farmer’s markets. Some parks are even implementing outdoor kitchens to allow for flexibility with cooking for private and special events.

While many parks have had incorporated stages or other areas to accommodate concerts and other events over the past few decades, spaces are now being planned with an eye towards accommodating a larger variety of activities. Recreationally, gaming areas are also being added to help staff take a break from their workdays and provide entertainment options for visitors and locals. From foosball to ping pong to basketball half-courts, these attractions add immense value to these communal outdoor areas.

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FUTURE OF THE TREND Considering all of the innovation emerging in new developments raises the question of what older office properties are doing to stay competitive within the market. The desire for shorter commutes, easy collaboration with other offices, and all of the conveniences and amenities we’ve outlined above would largely explain why more remote office parks without dedicated outdoor spaces and services have become outmoded and increasingly deserted. Having large vacant buildings decreases property values of nearby occupied buildings, and reduces income tax revenues for the areas they inhabit.

Developers of these properties need to find ways to reinvent them and some of the less costly options are to convert the existing green spaces to accessible park space or add bike paths and other health-conscious features. On a larger scale, the most obvious solution is to follow the mixed-use trend. Bringing in eateries and retail stores can increase the appeal of these spaces for renters and their potential hires.

Some properties are converting a portion of their buildings into hotels and apartments, which is a good step toward building localized communities.

Joining forces with local government and academic entities can help encourage adding nearby civic improvements like metro stops, schools, and community centers, all of which can increase prospects for these more remote business parks. And not every office park is suited to these types of conversions. Some creative ideas to repurpose these less desirable properties include conversions to artists’ studios, online sales processing centers, or even self-storage centers.

For newer office parks and campuses, or ones that are situated in more advantageous locations, there is much room for growth and innovation, particularly for those near universities, colleges, and large anchor tenants. Having higher education institutions nearby helps to create an atmosphere of innovation and cross pollination, and adjacent anchor tenants provide a sort of ecosystem that smaller surrounding companies 48

can interact with and provide supplementary services to. This is why creating communal outdoor spaces is so critical to the financial health of developers and tenants, as it encourages social mingling and helps build enduring communities.

Another aspect to consider is geographic location. While outdoor fitness classes, events, and meetings can occur nearly year round in warmer markets like California or Florida, not all office parks and campuses have the same temperate weather advantage. Finding ways to comfortably accommodate seasonal fitness and social activities for winter months is crucial in these markets. Given the current increased need for outdoor areas due to the pandemic, developers could also do well to incorporate convertible landscaped spaces with robust power options to accommodate temporary partial enclosures and portable heating elements for colder temperatures.

Of course, developers, lessor, and property management companies are only part of the larger picture when it comes to these spaces.

The new generation of designers, architects, and landscape architects all have critical roles to play in the world of campus and business park design.

As creatives, it falls to us to educate ourselves on success stories and potential pitfalls of these innovative developments. With proper research to fully understand these new trends, we can effectively collaborate with our clients to create fresh and unique spaces to accommodate a wide array of innovative services and amenities.

It is critical that we engage with clients at the onset of the design process to push them towards new use of existing spaces. While there are always clients who possess grand ideas and vision, it is our responsibility to bring bold and energizing ideas to the table as well. We have a collective opportunity to create high value outdoor amenity spaces that not only increase lease prices and dollar value, but influence culture and contribute to community building one each and every project we approach.

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:

CENTERVIEW

By John Hill from Robinson Hill Architecture, Inc. and David Salkowitz from LandCreative, Inc RHA was brought on in 2018 by EMMES to help re-envision the existing 33,000 square foot Centerview plaza office campus, located at 1920 Main Street in Irvine, California. Having worked with LCI on previous joint projects, our well-versed teams again collaborated to provide a comprehensive architectural and landscape approach to the redesign.

The key goals were to create an iconic destination with flexible open social space that feels collaborative for extended use by office tenants, restaurant diners, and locals alike.

Implementing a revitalized social space intends to strengthen the Centerview’s level of interaction, allowing for shared access to sunny, open-air areas for meetings, meals, and other activities. These types of upgrades and amenities are becoming crucial to creating attractive commercial leases, and allow both landlords and tenants ways to increase efficiency and functionality. It has become increasingly clear in recent years that for businesses to attract high quality candidates, they need to offer more than just a workspace and compensation. They now also need to offer a more immersive environment that helps encourage work-life balance and ease.

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CENTERVIEW - 3D VISUALIZATION

CLICK TO PL AY

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:

CENTERVIEW

By John Hill from Robinson Hill Architecture, Inc. and David Salkowitz from LandCreative, Inc

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Corporate office plazas formerly served as sterile and impersonal window dressing, but have now become a more important aspect of lifestyle and culture. Offering outdoor activities and amenities contributes to health and wellness and is a great stress-reducer, which leads to increased productivity.

Programming these spaces with live entertainment, services, and other events also leads to improved occupancy for retail establishments and restaurants on the ground plane. By enlivening the Centerview space through creative active use, the hours of use easily extend from an 8-hour office plaza to a 12-hour destination for both daytime and evening.

In terms of location, the campus is adjacent to another EMMES development, Eighteen Main,

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which is the City of Irvine’s latest dining complex destination. The City of Irvine has been actively supporting additional high density residential housing along Main Street, from MacArthur Boulevard to Jamboree Road, to foster a more robust mixed use region. The appeal of living, working, and socializing at retail, restaurant, and outdoor spaces within walking distance makes common social venues increasingly vital. Centerview’s redesign dovetailed with this local momentum, creating a more userfriendly and appealing outdoor space for tenants of the two adjacent 12-story towers, outdoor diners, and nearby Irvine residents.

We were tasked with working with the parameters of the existing site plan and infrastructure. The plaza and its grand water feature are

bifurcated by Morse Avenue and differing landscaping and layouts on either side heightened the sense of division. Conceptually, we wanted the plaza to evoke the feeling of an urban forest/ stylized park type setting, which we approached first through the use of dynamic shade-spending tensile sail-structures that suggest stylized trees. To help bring the two campus plazas of office buildings together more comprehensively, we also incorporated the same types of large, iconic palm trees from the opposite side of the plaza.

By connecting these architectural palms in a more contiguous ring, the adjacent architecture was softened and enhanced while the upper skyline level became congruous and intentional.

On the ground plane, we utilized new paving to match the existing where we reconfigured existing planters, landscaping, and seating areas, and added and ADA ramp for access to the lower terrace areas. To highlight the dramatic, triangular stage area, we incorporated artful umbrellas to provide shade and a focal point for the space. We further defined the space through the use of smaller mini-plazas at the edge of the lake-like water feature, denoted by black concrete seeded with sparkling mica chips. These differentiated zones are accented with artful white TWIG benches by Tournesol, which are comprised of GFRC reinforced concrete and offer smaller work or social groups the opportunity for outdoor meetings and congregation.

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Outside of the tower’s restaurants, Porch & Swing and O-Live tree, we devised areas for eclectic and unique seating to serve as gathering and working spaces. RHA developed architectural awnings affixed to the towers to add shade cover and provide a more pedestrian/ human scale in between the two tall tower facades. In order to soften the required glass barrier railing at the restaurant perimeters, we installed new planters and foliage. Commercial Tuuci umbrellas were also used in these areas, allowing for seasonal flexibility and providing diners with charging outlets in each fixture base. As retail and restaurant tenancy grows and fluctuates, additional barrier railings and umbrellas may be added.

One of the most impactful additions throughout the plaza are the shade structures, which suggest sculptural trees, which add a dynamic, fresh take on providing shaded seating. Along with the retractable umbrellas, they add to the great variety of shade control throughout the plaza. The overall shading goal was to allow fresh air and sunshine to envelope the plaza, while allowing protection for user comfort. The fixed structures were manufactured, and installed by Tensile Shade Products, LLC, who worked with RHA and LCI to customize their product to align with the specific needs of the design. The spokes of these structures emulate the branches of trees while the springy green tone of the sails aids to further evokes the idea of foliage.

We also worked together to develop a new lighting concepts and fixtures, as well as ancillary architectural improvements and modifications.

The tensile shade structures feature integrated lighting allowing the tensile fabric to glow, which adds to the dramatic nighttime accent lighting for extended activity use and function.

Additionally, RHA used a creative approach to help lower a “proverbial ceiling” down visually in the vertical paseo space by using horizontal architectural light bars held from structural wires, spanning the space from either sides of the tower facades. All of the plaza lighting consists of environmentally friendly LED fixtures, with low electrical load. For added convenience, 24” high USB modular charging station hubs have been incorporated throughout the space at the various seating areas for easy, on-the-go technology access.

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Beyond the restaurant seating areas, the plaza offers a plentiful mix of modern soft seating and unique accent furniture for social networking and remote outdoor office needs. The furniture groupings and more intimate gathering spaces are intentionally spaced to avoid close contact, but remain within sight of neighboring groups to allow for a feeling of connection. To add as much seating as possible, the palm tree planter walls double as practical seat walls.

In addition to the iconic palms and existing sodded terraces, LCI brought in a waterconscientious planting palette, employing a mix of drought friendly grasses, colorful kangaroo paws, and eye-catching purple heart perennials. They also integrated decomposed granite to soften some of the spaces and added gravel to create additional texture. As occupancy in the office lease spaces increases, additional landscaping can be utilized on the upper terraces of the office buildings, again stretching the usability of the spaces. Part of the design consideration for the plaza was also what the space looks like from these higher levels. We were very conscientious of creating a fully three-dimensional space that bore in mind the experience of all of the tower tenants and users, not just those on the ground level.

All of these newly installed elements support the outdoor plaza as a public space as a whole and marry it with the existing architectural environment, creating a more interesting office space. Construction on Centerview was completed in October of last year, and we collectively look forward to the upcoming grand opening occurring in 2021.

In implementing the various upgrades we looked to propel Centerview into the current world of outdoor office plaza design and provide an engaging and socially connected outdoor space.

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P R O D U C T S W E L O V E !

by Lorraine Francis from Cadiz Collaboration

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R E S I D E N T I A L R O O T S B R I N G A S E N S E O F H O M E T O H O S P I T A L I T Y When we approach a design, we look at the building as a canvas. Every element we select adds to the ultimate picture that gets painted, and one of the fundamental components of the impression we make comes from what we put on the walls. From color to texture to patterning, wall coverings make one of the biggest impacts in creating the look and feel of a property.

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In addition to offering beautiful, cost efficient and socially and environmentally conscious products, it’s also very important to us to work with vendors that make the design process pleasant and rewarding. That’s why when it came time to make selections for our recent Cambria Hotel projects; we naturally turned to Phillip Jeffries. Their ability to be very competitive while always bringing out fresh, new products is especially appealing when targeting affordable luxury looks.

Although they started off in 1976 with just 10 grasscloth wallcoverings, Phillip Jeffries has grown from a small familyrun business into one of the world’s premier manufacturers of luxurious and inspiring designs. From their humble beginnings in the family garage, they currently stock more than 1,000 wallcoverings that are ready-to-ship from their over 60,000 square foot headquarters. Their selection and customer service keep us coming back to them, as we feel they are truly collaborative, supportive, and innovative. Their design excellence yields a residential feel for a hospitality value, which is an impressive balance to strike.

We also love how hands-on President Philip Bershad is in the structure and growth of the company. A lover of travel, Philip has opened distribution in over 20 countries and traveled to 5 continents. Phillip Jeffries’ roots in woven grass cloths expanded to include so many other natural and specialty textures like silk, sisal, linen, hemp, raffia, and tweed. Their ability to then translate these textures into vinyl wall covering is unsurpassed, and made them an obvious choice for us as we developed our Cambria projects with an eye towards organic materials and textures.

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At Cambria Napa, we made a big impact in the lobby with their Fade #7220 Grey Whisper on White Manila Hemp as a moody, monochromatic mural wall influenced by local vistas. We chose their Vinyl Seaside Linen in 8452 Tortoise Green to reflect the beautiful sage-toned hillsides of the surrounding wine country. By placing it in the corridors, we were able to infuse a sense of the natural environment through its springy, verdant tone.

with skilled artisans in small entrepreneurial mills, preserving classic craftsmanship and strengthening legacies. We also love that they help their local community through homeless aid and supporting Habitat for Humanity. And we admire that for every order they receive, they plant a tree through the Arbor Foundation with their PJ Plants program, resulting in over 100,000 new tree plantings to date.

For Cambria Sonoma we added Vinyl Tweed- 8004 Edinburg Grey as an accent at the guestroom headboard walls, rooting the space with a classic menswear inspired tweed. In the meeting rooms, we used Vinyl Woven Sisal- 8122 Dusty Gray as its broad woven pattern in sophisticated tones adds rich visual while remaining subtle enough for a variety of functions and events.

We’ve had a peek at their Spring 2021 lookbook, Resort, which is filled with chic prints, midcentury elements, and bold colors and botanicals that we are excited to explore. We look forward to future collaborations with Phillip Jeffries as they have mastered bringing residential beauty to products with an affordable luxury appeal, adding texture and depth to all of our properties.

As a company, Phillip Jeffries works hand-in-hand

PRODUCTS WE LOVE!

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Case Study:

Cadiz Opening Cambria Napa We at Cadiz Collaboration are excited about our summer 2021 opening for the Cambria Hotel Napa, located in the heart of one of the country’s most prestigious wine regions. Adding its proximity to downtown, this property is well positioned to offer a convenient base for exploration in addition to its many amenities. As local travelers venture into nearby areas for a change of pace and thoughtful service, they need look no further than this welcoming hotel.

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Our focus with the overall design was to create a sense of accessible luxury while connecting to the local culture. In the lobby/bar welcome zone, a key component in achieving this balance was bringing the outdoors in and connecting to nature. This was successfully accomplished with the ample glass exposure, allowing expansive views into the surrounding courtyard area. With the furnishings and finishes, we focused on key luxury details with a sense of simplicity to create an ease and openness into the space.

The warm neutral color palette with pops of magenta, puce, and sage encourage feelings of joy and comfort, mixed with a sense of play. Curvilinear tables and chairs reflect on natural forms, rooted by abstracted custom area rugs that create biophilic connections to patterns in tree bark and agrarian patterns.

This environmental theme continues outdoors into the terrace and pool area, where specimen trees serves as a respite for dining and relaxation and a grand fireplace is the focal point for our outdoor gathering areas. Pops of green add an element of cheer in the furnishing and tie into the nearby greenery, creating a pleasant backdrop for enjoying the locally sourced cuisine and cocktails. In these public spaces, we aimed to foster social engagement amongst residents and guests with design elements that honors the local context while also making guests feel at home.

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The artwork throughout the hotel was inspired by graphic design patterns of 1976, the year of the “Judgement of Paris”. Something incredible happened, The French judges couldn’t discern which wines were from France and gave the highest scores to two vintages from Napa Valley producers.

This not only stunned those involved in the tasting, it also sparked a revolution that changed the wine world’s perception about the quality and potential of California wines.

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For relaxing at the end of the day, the guestrooms offer a soothing blend of mid-toned woods in the millwork, flooring and furniture, and fresh pops of color in the accent pillows and artwork. With spa style bathrooms and all of the small luxuries that add charm and value to the traveler’s experience, this well-rounded property offers up everything needed in a delightful home away from home. Working with our expansive team from our client to our vendors to create our collective vision of affordable elegance with a focus on well-being has been truly rewarding and inspiring.

Stay Healthy- Travel Safe!

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We would love to hear from you!

Please reach us at : lorraine_francis@cadizcollaboration.com www.cadizcollaboration.com 3195 B Airport Loop Drive Costa Mesa CA 92626 949.667.2508 O 949.922.0591 M