Every day, around the world, we interact with our clients and coworkers to develop plans that exceed expectations. In over 90 locations, we use workspaces to engineer, design, architect and create the next steps for ongoing and developing projects. These concentrated efforts result in major contributions to the built and natural environment.
While tackling these projects, it is common for employees to look at their interior workspaces and transform their environments to increase productivity and efficiency. Our San Diego office recently did this when a dark, catalog-filled room called for change into a collaborative meeting space for clients and employees. They began the transformation process by calling on talented lighting designers to assess if the room could be changed into a collective space, filled with light. After this was confirmed, principal, Dean Shellenberger realized the room called for a ‘San Diego office-touch.’
Dean contacted a local muralist/graffiti artist, Emmanuel Favela (MANU), who he knew could capture the identity of the close-knit team. Together, we decided on, “In San Diego, we are much more than what you see on the surface” as a theme for MANU to capture. MANU painted icons representing the shared passions of the team and used a crack to illustrate the many personalities and passions breaking free from beneath the surface. From EXP’s hard hat (left) to a saxophone playing the music of “life,” (right) San Diego is well represented in the mural fittingly titled, “Welcome to us.”
With a local feel, the art also reflects a piece of our global presence and our strong appreciation for bringing in our community and out-of-the-box solutions to elevate our work.
