- June 29, 2018
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Matthew F. Fox
- 3 min read
As you can see from the sophisticated progress bar at the top of this post, we’re nearing the end of our new office build and move. This week has been filled with the completion of many sub-projects and the office is quickly coming together. We still have some network-related work to perform, along with the completion of some work areas, but we’re definitely approaching the light at the end of the tunnel.
I’ve been taking plenty of photos of the space throughout the process, and have some of my favorites below – without revealing too much.
Network cabling trays
The vast majority of our network cabling is suspended above the space in cabling trays instead of being hidden in the ceiling. Not only does this look cool, especially since we went with orange cable, but it makes it easier to troubleshoot any problems that may occur.
Polished concrete floors
I’m just going to go ahead and say it; office carpet is gross, particularly when used in high traffic areas. Valiant’s office is essentially one ,large, high traffic space, so the decision to stick with bare concrete was a great choice. No more carpet to absorb water and odors, or worn areas getting stuck on desk chair casters.
Keeping snacks where snacks belong
Our new office has a dedicated kitchen space, which we’re all excited to begin using! While we do have a kitchen area in the current office, along with a breakout room that we’ll typically use for lunch, the space is a bit cramped. Everyone can fit in to our new kitchen space with room to spare, plus there’s a ton of storage options for all of the snacks. A large orange sliding door sits between our work areas and the kitchen, which will help keep noise down.
The door is pretty heavy, but can be moved easily thanks to the rail system that it’s mounted to:
Modern conveniences
Our upcoming move to the new office will also mark the return of our beloved Hoshizaki ice machine, along with all new appliances and other conveniences. The ice maker has been out of commission for a few weeks, but it’ll be back to keeping our drinks cool very soon. It produces so much ice, so quickly, that I’m convinced that it could freeze time if we wanted it to.
New Network Cabinet
With so many services running in the cloud, we’ve downsized to a half-height cabinet for most of our locally-hosted network hardware and devices. It’s easier to work with, move when necessary, and is a welcome upgrade over our current rack hardware.
Heavy duty cooling equipment
A lot of time was dedicated to finding an appropriate cooling solution for the office. Not only does the office need to be kept comfortable for the staff, the temperature needs to be tightly monitored and controlled to counteract the heat produced by all of the equipment we use – along with keeping humidity levels in check.
Of course, airflow plays an important role too, and we’ve placed louvered doors in key areas of the office to ensure that a fresh supply of air is provided to the AC units to keep them running quietly for the years ahead.
Office lighting and ceiling fans
New light fixtures and ceiling fans were installed as part of the new office build, and they are awesome.
All of the light fixtures are dimmable, and the fans are controlled by wall switches and can oscillate when we want them to. While this may not seem like a big deal, the ability to control everything from a single panel means that lights will be used when needed, and kept off when not. No chains hanging from fans means no broken chains on fans that can no longer be turned on or off. It’s the centralized management of decentralized resources, which is a direct reflection of our approach to network design – and really handy.
The next, and final, post focused on our move will contain a recap of everything along with a virtual tour. Stay tuned!
