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College Loan Corporation Consolidates into Elegant MAiSPACE Quarters (Track This Article)

College Loan Corporation, headquartered in Poway, California, is a top 10 student loan provider, managing more than $10 billion in student loan assets. When the company consolidated several locations into a leased 135,000 square foot renovated warehouse it worked with interior design and strategic planning firm ID Studios and MAiSPACE dealer Integrated Commercial Environments LLC. The goal: to provide a vibrant new workspace for a predominantly young staff operating the company’s 24x7 call center and supporting departments.

“We wanted an inviting atmosphere conducive to hiring and retaining a highly qualified staff of loan consultants,” says CLC’s Vice President of Human Resources Heather Hole. “Call centers are frequently characterized as suffering from high turnover, and we sought to change that by providing a modern and attractive working environment while incorporating the conservative and stable image. Turning a warehouse into such an environment called for making the space warmer through the use of colors and bringing the disparate parts of the facility together into a more integrated whole.

“We also wanted to maximize the space choosing 6x6 workstations over the 6x8 used previously and were concerned that it would require a huge adjustment on the part of our staff,” she says. “However, with all the design options available in the MAiSPACE system we were able to create beautiful and functional workstations.

“The project was competitively bid by ID Studios and us,” says Hole. “MAiSPACE won the business hands down as the systems furniture supplier. No one else offered the quality we demanded at a price that allowed significant design upgrades for a more attractive and customized workplace environment. I’m able to report that our employees are very pleased with their new facilities.”

“At CLC’s request we prepared a comprehensive matrix designed to assist them in comparing all the important features and capabilities from the various competitors,” recounts Deborah Elliot, principal and head project designer for ID Studios. “In the end MAiSPACE to our surprise won out over the more established brand names scoring higher in almost every category even though their price was substantially lower.”

ICE’s DeLinda Anderson says “The MAiSPACE solution was so well priced that we could upgrade fabric and finishes to provide a stronger visual appeal to the new facility yet remain competitive and within budget. Taking advantage of this, we worked with Designtex fabrics to produce a custom pattern and two custom colors all at graded-in prices and coordinated with the MAiSPACE systems furniture and workplace furnishings.”

The CLC project comprises 486 MAiSPACE agent and managerial workstations in 6 x 6, 10 x 12, conference room and printing area configurations. ID Studios selected Coverseal, a proprietary MAiSPACE material in a cherry finish for panel segments, 84-inch doors and work surfaces. Other panel segments are banded glass or fabric in charcoal and tan. Cabinets and trim are charcoal. Each station has a whiteboard, paper management work tools, a coat hook and color-coordinated guest chairs along with phone and computer connections.

Installation was by B&C Furniture Solutions, out of neighboring San Diego. B&C’s president Carlos Arzola says that while the installation schedule was shortened by two weeks “we were able to meet the new deadline. Helping to enable this,” he says, “is the quality of MAiSPACE construction and the ease with which components can be assembled.”

Construction features include 16-gauge cold-rolled steel framing for strength and rigidity during installation and when in use. “Knockdown and ready-to-assemble (RTA) framing components are equipped with self-leveling connections, which simplified moving elements into and throughout the building,” notes Arzola. “This was a major contributor to our meeting the tightened deadline.”

Another feature contributing to the fast installation is the MAiSPACE lay-in electrical and data cabling system. Cable runs are laid in behind the lift-off panel segments, not bundled and fished through structural elements, and access the work areas via runs under the raised floor.

“Best of all,” summarizes Heather Hole, “the cost to furnish the workstation portion of this project was only $12.00 per square foot installed. And the systems furniture has a lifetime guarantee as long as we own it.”

Captions:

Manager Stations
CLC’s 10 x 12-foot manager stations have 84-inch high panel segment walls, a much more economical and flexible solution to the high price of hard walled offices that were under consideration. Frosted glass, customized Designtex fabric, radius bins, thermoformed cherry wood-grain work surfaces, and an exterior cherry laminate tile combine to give an elegant high-end look.

Agent Station
Perfect in form and function, these 6 x 6-foot agent stations feature 36-inch deep flared work surfaces with 30-inch file cabinets providing ample storage and just the right amount of knee space. The 18" deep return surface allows for a comfortable swing around clearance. Overheads are easily accessed without hanging over the primary work surface, thus providing a more open feeling in 36 square foot workstation.

Printer Area
The printer area is the ideal solution for networked printers and paper processing. Work surfaces are mounted at stand-up height and custom made storage cabinets finished to match the MAiSPACE components are mounted underneath for additional storage. Two rows of paper management tiles are mounted on the 66-inch high frames over the storage cabinets to accommodate work in process.

Overall View
The College Loan Corporation facility represents how good MAiSPACE can look when properly planned.

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