Pivot Interiors Finds a New Home in Hacienda

By Nicole Zaro Stahl, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Successful, Sustainable Workspaces are the Design Firm's Hallmarks

Over the past dozen years, Pivot Interiors has done some office-hopping around Hacienda Business Park - five times to be exact. While each move represents an uptick on the growth chart, the most recent, into a 5,000 square foot suite in the Taylor Building on Chabot Drive, is undoubtedly the most momentous.

"As Pivot has grown it has been really important to keep our roots in Pleasanton," comments sales manager Jennifer Burton. "Now we have a showroom large enough to accommodate our growing office staff. Also what's really important is we can now schedule showroom tours for local businesses and architectural and design firms without having to commute to our corporate headquarters in San Jose."

Pivot Interiors has been providing innovative office furniture solutions to Bay Area companies for 35 years. The firm offers unique expertise in creating world-class work environments for clients from a wide variety of industries such as biotech, technology, financial, legal, government, education, and healthcare. The firm recently installed furniture at the new Roche facility and will be working with Oracle on its new Pleasanton campus.

"How people work has a huge influence on furniture selection," Burton explains. Coming up with the right solution can be as simple as lowering the height of the panels that separate workstations to create a more collaborative, team-oriented environment. Often, different groups within a single company, for example, customer service and order entry, will function differently, thus demanding unique space arrangements. "Our responsibility is always finding out how they work and then determining how to make it better," she comments.

New tools to improve employee productivity and comfort are constantly emerging. Keyboard trays have gained tilt features that eliminate pressure points on the palm of the hand. Monitor arms free up desktop real estate while allowing more ergonomically correct viewing. Workstations now have an adjustable mechanism for employees who want to be at standing height.

Sustainability is a strong focus at the firm, and one of the reasons Burton is so passionate about her new surroundings. The Taylor Building is a very green facility, she points out, noting as an aside that the offices of contractor P. D. Larson Co., across the hall, were also a Pivot project. "Our designers are trained in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accreditation, and we work with manufacturers who commit to doing the right thing for the environment," she enthuses.

One of California's largest full-service furniture dealerships, Pivot is also the only Certified Herman Miller dealership in the Bay Area. "Herman Miller furniture is really top of the line, and the company has demonstrated such thought and leadership in its association with GREENGUARD," the Indoor Air Quality Certification for low-emitting products, she says, expressing admiration for the way the company's web site provides an itemized description of the post-consumer waste each piece contains.

Pivot's new space also includes products from DIRTT ("Doing It Right This Time") Environmental Solutions, the Calgary-based innovator whose agile architectural components create "sustainable, successful workspaces by vastly improving the speed, precision, agility and custom abilities of modular interior construction," Burton notes.

To find out more about the design firm's product and services, visit the website, www.pivotinteriors.com.

Photo: Pivot's Hacienda staff has had five offices in Hacienda, with the latest in the Taylor Building.

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