Carson Design Associates

We worked with Quest on the redesign of its Austin, Texas location — a 30,000 sq. ft. space with 170 employees. Finding a balance between collaboration and solitude was key with the design of this space. We were challenged to maintain the open office feel, while also providing opportunities for privacy throughout the space.

Me vs. We Floor Plan: In their Austin office, The Quest sales team occupies the majority of the space, filling it with a generally sociable and playful environment. To serve various employee needs, we incorporated phone rooms throughout the floor plan so that employees have the option to work alone in a quiet setting. In addition, we built in small huddle rooms that seat 4-5 people with a whiteboard, for small group meetings. The finished space includes only three enclosed office spaces in the entire plan, designated specifically for the HR team.

Collaboration or Social Zones: 
We incorporated designated areas called collaboration or social zones in an effort to keep the workstations quiet and focused. These zones include two lounges, several training rooms, and two large cafes.

• Lounges: Designed for social activities, celebrations and a change in scenery for employees, the lounges boast a foosball table, books, TVs, and games.
• Coffee Bars: There are two coffee bars — one on either side of the office — designed to feed the entire office, serve as a break room, or provide additional meeting space.
• Training Rooms: These spaces include large tables with moveable partitions and technology for conference calls, group meetings and brainstorming sessions.
• Café: There is one café at the center of the office large enough to accommodate most employees during the break hour, while also serving as a secondary work area or social zone.

We also incorporated acoustic paneling throughout the floor plan to offset any noise from the collaboration zones from traveling to the private workstations.

Wellness as a Value:  Quest values physical, mental, and emotional health as an organization, and so we incorporated a wellness room into the office place — equipping it with a reclining chair, table, accessible outlets, a sink and a refrigerator. The room provides both a private space for breastfeeding mothers, as well as a non-gender specific area for staff to find silence during the day.

Space for Remote Workers:  With offices all over the country, the Quest office in Austin often welcomes employees needing a space to work. To serve these traveling employees, we included a series of unassigned workstations, or hot desks, near the reception area to plug in and work between meetings.

Branding Guidelines:  At the kickoff of this project, Quest provided us with their branding guide, providing us direction on the colors and textures to include in order to match their high-tech, professional and simple design. We took this guide and incorporated elements of light wood, gray color palettes, open ceilings, and clean lines throughout the floor plan.