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Omaha Magazine

A Wave of Smart Design

Mar 26, 2021 03:13PM ● By Jeff Lacey
kitchen island with wood insert

Photo by Bill Sitzmann

Wave Interactive offers web-based design solutions, and their clients include household names like Travelocity, Expedia, and CheapTickets, among others. Wave’s mission is to provide clients with seamless functionality and a pleasant user experience when it comes to their product.  So, when it came time to design a new office space, they aimed for similar objectives, teaming with Holland Basham Architects to turn their concept into reality.

Photo by Bill Sitzmann

 The result is their office at 128th and Pierce streets: an elegant, inviting space that includes special touches that make it popular with employees.

Jamie McNeely, vice president of operations, explained that the ultimate goal when designing the office was to strike a compelling balance between form and function. “We didn’t want it to be a traditional office space,” McNeely said. “We wanted it to be open and inviting, but we also wanted a place flexible enough so people could have some control over their level of privacy.”

The final product is 4,400 square feet of fluid, highly functional, work area. Walking in the front doors, clients are immediately greeted with a large four-screen display in the waiting area (one of 16 screen display areas) that features time-zones for all the parts of the world in which their clients are based. The waiting area is flanked on both sides by conference rooms (referred to as ‘huddles’) that serve as multi-use work environments for the entire staff. These huddles include conference tables that can be raised at the touch of a button for a standing desk option, as well as one of the central design motifs of the office: floor-to-ceiling marker boards. 

Photo by Bill Sitzmann

The marker boards are comprised of a blue wall background covered with clear paneling that can be used for whatever ideas a dry erase marker can summon.  These boards are a key feature of Wave’s office design, and are found throughout the office. “We wanted to be sure to have a lot of space to be able to work things out and collaborate, so these marker boards are available all over the place,” McNeely explained. 

Photo by Bill Sitzmann

 Past the lobby is a wide-open, high-ceilinged area that takes up the majority of the square footage. Two rows of a beautifully lit hub of work stations run though this space. The word ‘cubicles’ doesn’t do these stations justice: they are flexible, well-equipped, and patterned in a pleasant near-honeycomb design. On the other side of this great hall is the kitchen/lounge area, which features retro light fixtures and a 50-gallon fish tank. The tank is placed strategically so that the lounge is distinct from the kitchen area, yet lots of light is still allowed to permeate both areas.  

The most magical element of the office is the garage door. The primary conference room at Wave gets a major upgrade via a fully functional glass-paneled garage door that opens up into the lounge area. The door is lowered or raised according to the needs of the day. “We wanted a simple but interesting space, and the garage door is something we thought added a lot,” McNeely said. 

Aside from these smart, elegant touches, there is also the presence of reclaimed light fixtures over the great central area, reclaimed interior glass, and pops of color throughout.

Photo by Bill Sitzmann

Those who visit Wave Interactive might also be lucky enough to meet Pickle, McNeely’s precocious miniature dachshund. “The office doesn’t have a dog policy,” McNeely said,  “but it is dog-friendly.” Like Pickle, the office at Wave interactive abounds with small touches that prove to be
wonderfully interesting. 

Visit wave.dev for more information.

This article was printed in the April/May 2021 issue of B2B Magazine. 

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