Office Moves, Part Two: The Tech and Design Decisions That Make or Break the Space

In Part One of our office move series, tenant rep broker Josh Berger walked through the real estate side of moving: when to start, how to build leverage, and what to watch for in today’s New York City market.

Part Two is where the walls go up—and the wires go in.

We sat down with Jason Cole, founder of Cole AV and someone we work with on nearly every office move, to talk through the technology and design decisions that determine whether a new space actually works. AV, lighting, conference room infrastructure, wiring—and the bigger question of who should be managing the entire process.

It’s the part most people don’t think about until it’s too late.

AV and IT: Related, But Not the Same

One of the first things Jason pointed out is something we hear all the time: people assume that because we handle IT, we also handle AV—and that because Jason handles AV, he handles IT.

Neither is true, and the distinction matters.

Our work is largely invisible: servers, networks, security, device management. You notice it when it breaks, not when it’s working. Jason’s work is physical and experiential: cameras, speakers, displays, lighting—the way a room sounds and feels when you walk into it.

The two disciplines must be coordinated. And the handoff between them—especially how conference room systems connect to the broader network—is exactly where things break down when no one is managing the relationship.

Getting both partners involved early, and ensuring they’re aligned, is one of the simplest ways to avoid common move-in disasters.

What Actually Makes a Conference Room Work

Jason breaks conference room quality down into three factors: workflow, room size, and engagement.

Workflow comes first

The biggest variable in any conference room isn’t the equipment—it’s the people using it.

One person walks in with a ten-year-old Windows laptop. Another uses an iPad. Someone else has Bluetooth settings that interfere with audio. The room might be perfectly configured, but the experience falls apart because every user brings a different setup.

The cleanest solution is a dedicated, managed in-room system. A standardized machine, maintained by IT, with conferencing software preconfigured. The room gets its own calendar address. You schedule a meeting, invite the room, and everything is ready when you walk in.

That’s as much a workflow decision as it is a technology decision, and it requires coordination between IT and AV from the start.

Room size shapes everything

What works for a six-person huddle room won’t work for a 25-person boardroom. Ceiling height, materials, and room dimensions all impact acoustics and camera placement.

Getting this wrong doesn’t break the room. But it creates a slightly worse experience every day, for as long as you occupy the space.

Engagement is the goal

A wide-angle camera that captures the room isn’t the same as a system that tracks speakers, captures expressions, and delivers clear, immersive audio.

Video calls will never fully replicate being in person, but a well-designed system can get much closer than most people expect. A poorly designed one can be worse than a phone call.

We see this often. Companies invest in conference room technology but still struggle with remote collaboration. The issue usually isn’t the equipment, it’s that the room was never designed as a communication environment.

The TI Money Question

Here’s something many tenants don’t realize: landlord-provided build-out funding—known as Tenant Improvement (TI) money—doesn’t have to stay with the landlord.

If the landlord manages the build-out, they’ll use their own contractors, architects, and standard finishes. The result is functional, but often generic.

The alternative is to take control of the TI budget yourself. Hire your own contractor, architect, AV team, and IT partner. In many cases, this produces a better outcome for the same budget, since landlord-managed builds include their margin and cost constraints.

The tradeoff is involvement. Managing your own build requires time, coordination, and expertise. Which is why the next role is so important.

The Owner’s Rep: The Role Most People Skip

If there’s one concept worth emphasizing, it’s this: For any meaningful build-out, you should have an owner’s representative.

An owner’s rep (also called a construction or project manager) works exclusively in your interest. They coordinate your architect, contractor, IT and AV vendors, and furniture providers. They manage timelines, budgets, and communication, and translate technical decisions into business terms.

Without one, those responsibilities fall to someone internally—usually someone whose job this is not.

The cost of an owner’s rep is real. But so is the risk of managing a major build-out without expertise.

As Jason pointed out, a 10,000–12,000-square-foot project can easily run $1.8-$2 million for construction and FF&E (furniture, fixtures, and equipment). Over a 10-year lease, total occupancy costs often reach into the tens of millions.

That’s not a project to manage casually.

Where Architects Fit In

The role of an architect depends on how the build-out is handled.

If you take control of the TI budget, you’ll need to hire your own architect and MEP team (mechanical, electrical, plumbing). Your owner’s rep can help manage those relationships.

If the landlord manages the build, their architect will use standard layouts and finishes. The result is predictable and functional, but not tailored.

For smaller spaces, this tradeoff can make sense. For larger or more brand-driven environments, customization often justifies the added complexity.

The key is making a deliberate choice, not defaulting to whatever the landlord proposes.

Start With Your Business Case, Not Your Wish List

When we asked Jason what questions people should ask AV vendors, he flipped the perspective.

Instead of leading with a list of equipment requirements, start with your business case.

• How do your teams actually work?
• How many people use each type of space?
• How often are meetings virtual versus in-person?
• Do you host clients regularly?
• Do you need large all-hands capabilities?

When you start with real use cases, the right technology decisions follow naturally.

When you start with equipment specs, you risk overspending on the wrong things—and missing what actually matters.

This applies across the board, from AV, IT, architecture, and beyond. The right answer to “what do we need?” starts with understanding how your business operates.

The One Thing

We asked Jason for the single best piece of advice for anyone planning an office move. His response: Don’t put your office manager in charge of it.

That’s not a criticism. Office managers are often exceptional at what they do. But managing a large-scale build-out requires a different skill set.

It requires decision-making authority, business context, and the ability to manage vendors and push back when necessary. That’s typically a COO or chief of staff internally, or an owner’s rep externally. Ideally, both.

The best office moves we’ve seen share a few common traits:

• Experienced leadership driving the project
• Early engagement (often more than a year in advance)
• Coordination between IT, AV, and facilities from the start

One client brought us in more than a year before they even had a final address. The result was a smooth, on-time move without the last-minute chaos that defines most projects.

That’s not luck. That’s preparation.

The Creative Stack is produced by Valiant Technology, a managed IT services provider based in New York specializing in serving creative agencies and PR firms. Listen to episodes at podcast.thevaliantway.com and learn more at thevaliantway.com.