JCVA HQ: Transforming Awkward to Awesome

In our previous article, we discussed Brené Brown & Barrett Guille’s take on the new office dynamic in a podcast episode aptly named, The Great Awkward. We shared how the pandemic has affected the workforce, and how we are all hanging on two years later.

Today, we go over how we, at JCVA, have remained adaptable and resilient throughout this period—starting with how our headquarters was built to accommodate the evolving needs of the times and more recently, how our team management refreshed our people engagement program to help our guys overcome this awkward phase.

Going Hybrid

Jase and I started dreaming about our office space in May 2021. Yes, during the height of the pandemic. I was initially reluctant to commit to a physical space because A) PANDEMIC and B) our small back office team has been fine working from our homes. However, as our operations expanded, the need to grow our support team became inevitable… so is the need for space and a corporate home base.

We wanted a manageable office size in a low-density building and happily found it in Quezon City and most importantly, within our BIR RDO. As for the design, we worked closely with architect and designer, Paul Martinez, and tasked him to make it look fresh, slightly unorthodox, comfortable, and luxe. Paul presented us with Modern Classic, Biophilic and Modern Industrial theme options, with the last one edging the others out. This was later tweaked with mid-century modern and biophilic elements.

With our look and concept finalized, we got onto completing the details. Whoever said that love is in the details was spot on. We spent months trying to come up with the right look for our custom furniture, pinning down the correct shade of teal, and choosing the best fabric for our lounge sofas. These are just a few of the myriad decisions that were made in the process of achieving our dream office.

We also sought advice from a feng shui consultant to help us harmonize with the environment and maximize good energy inside the space. GOOD VIBES ONLY.

From spiritual and metaphysical, we move on to physical wellness and sustainability. Our office was made with LEED-certified materials, offers high-end ergonomic chairs and standing desks to our team, has wide windows that allow natural light in, uses LED lights for when we need them, houses live plants that are somehow surviving despite my black thumb, offers the convenience of a private bathroom with shower, and lastly, features a generous pantry where our guys can enjoy breaks with unlimited coffee and rice (IMPORTANT).

To address issues brought by the pandemic, JCVA HQ was outfitted with fresh air and exhaust ductworks, uses ACUs installed with Plasma Quad Connect Air Purifying devices, and is equipped with thermal sensors, disinfectant fogging machine, and OH radical, plasma and UV-C technologies. We made sure that our safety equipment is redundant to keep our people healthy within the office.

Finally, to allow us to thrive with a hybrid work arrangement, we rigged out our meeting rooms with tech for better teleconferencing experience.

JCVA HQ is an extension of our home and hopefu