Cyberwoven

Cyberwoven
Corporate Headquarters
Columbia, SC

Service-Lines: Relocation, Furniture, Flooring, A/V

Products Used: Steelcase Frame One Benching and Workstation, Steelcase Leap Stools, Enea Stools, Coalesse Bindu Conference Chairs, Fulbright Glass Conference Table, Milliken TractionBack® Carpet Tiles

Cyberwoven is a web development and strategy company that recently relocated to a new office in Columbia, SC. 

When Cyberwoven was preparing to move from their building on Huger Street to a newly renovated, historic building on Main Street, they knew they would need furniture and an office layout that would blend the architectural features of an 1870's-era building with the technology and comfort you would expect to find in a modern website and strategy company. 

It was a big undertaking, but that wasn't even the hard part.

Cyberwoven also needed to relocate about half of their existing furniture pieces, all of their employees, their sensitive files, and their A/V without interrupting their day-to-day operations or inconveniencing their clients. Knowing how complex the project was and how many service lines the company would need, working with McWaters seemed like the obvious choice for Cyberwoven. 

"We've worked with McWaters since 2012 and I had worked with them in a previous role for about 10 years before that," said Joanne Benson, Administrative Manager at Cyberwoven.

"We trusted that they would be able to do the entire process the right way."

So, in early 2017, McWaters and Cyberwoven sat down to begin their planning process and to explore all their options for furniture, flooring, A/V, and relocation services.

"I had a good idea what I wanted the space to accomplish," said Ben Rex, CEO at Cyberwoven. "McWaters was able to quickly understand my vision, help me fill in the details, and think about things I hadn't considered due to their experience with these projects." 

Project Scope

Choosing the right furniture

Cyberwoven's new, historic building on Columbia's Main Street was more than double their current space. The company knew they wanted a space with a layout that was more open than what they currently had to encourage interaction and collaboration between employees.

At the same time they needed a layout that would look finished, but be flexible enough for the company to almost double in size in the coming years. The workstations and breakout areas also needed to be muted enough to be relaxing, but employ pops of color to help bring Cyberwoven's brand throughout the space. 

Working with history

Cyberwoven's new building is almost 150 years old and is recognized by the National Park Service as a contributing structure to Columbia's Main Street historic district. The building's floors are original to the 1870's, which meant they weren't as level as a modern floor would be. McWaters had to be sure to take that into consideration when they were using trollies and handcarts to move furniture and heavy file cabinets. 

Installing A/V 

Cyberwoven's building is historic, but Cyberwoven is a modern web and technology company. They wanted to have all of the latest technology needed to conduct business, however, they wanted to avoid visible wires cluttering the space or taking away from the aesthetic of the building.

McWaters' A/V team knows how to integrate technology so it is a seamless addition to a room, even when the room is 150 years old. 

Keeping disruptions to a minimum 

Shutting down for multiple days or displacing employees would be a major issue when it came to the move. They were looking for a company who would be able to relocate their entire office efficiently and with as little disruption as possible.

Cyberwoven also needed someone they could trust to move sensitive files, expensive A/V equipment, and their furniture with minimum supervision from Cyberwoven. 

SOLUTION

Choosing the right furniture

Since McWaters and Cyberwoven had been working together for years, the interior design and sales team already had a good idea of what aesthetic and functionality Cyberwoven was trying to achieve in their new space. They used that knowledge, along with customer interviews, to show layouts and items that would meet the goals Cyberwoven had already identified.

McWaters knew that Cyberwoven wanted to reuse as much of their current furniture as possible. That included several modular workstations that were no longer in production. McWaters was able to evaluate the workstations and come up with a plan on how to disassemble and reassemble them without having access to the original plans for the furniture.

The additional new workstations McWaters helped Cyberwoven choose were broken into groups of two and four to promote collaboration. Each workstation featured muted colors and each breakout room included pops of orange on the furniture and walls to represent Cyberwoven's brand. 

Installing A/V 

McWaters worked directly with electricians at MCA and Boyer to make sure the space would have everything it needed to support Cyberwoven's A/V and power needs while maintaining the historic integrity of the building. 

Keeping disruptions to a minimum during relocation

Good project management was key in helping the project go smoothly. Since McWaters was working on furniture, A/V, flooring, and relocation, there were a lot of moving parts and everyone needed to be on the same page.

Beginning in August, McWaters had near-daily contact with Cyberwoven to coordinate the flooring, furniture, and A/V aspects of the project. That attention to detail carried through to the lead-up and execution of the relocation—and it paid off.

When it came time to relocate, Cyberwoven employees could seamlessly transition out of their old workstations and onto temporary desks provided by McWaters while their workstations were being set up in the new office. An organizational system was employed to eliminate confusion during the relocation by tagging all furniture, keeping record of all items, and indicating where each item was to be moved in the new space.

During the relocation, Cyberwoven's main concerns were being able to avoid as much downtime as possible and to continue to provide service to their customers. Keeping that in mind, McWaters was able to do the majority of the work after hours, which meant Cyberwoven's employees could continue working and meeting with clients without distractions.  

"Everyone we worked with was extremely nice and very respectful of our time," Benson said. "We couldn't have asked for anything better."

CREDITS

Architect/Partner: MCA 

Construction Partner: Boyer Construction

Cabinetry and Woodwork Partner: Specialty Woodworks

HVAC Partner: W.B. Guimarin

McWaters team 

• Bobby Nunn, VP State/Federal Sales
• Jordyn Alford, Interior Designer
• Chris Coates, Director of Operations
• Chip Salak, Flooring
• Brian Hulett, Operations Manager