After 6+ weeks working from home, many are eager to reunite with their colleagues, while some are getting comfortable with connecting remotely. The common denominator is managing change. Staying connected while away makes transitioning back into the office smoother, and for those who will remain a zoom call away, it allows them to feel like an active part of the team.

Our WFH (Westgroup From Home) Wellness Challenge has enlivened and engaged our staff to get and stay connected like never before…and now we’re sharing our secret sauce with all of you! Each Week our WFH Wellness Challenge provides inspiration, a sense of camaraderie and friendly competition, as well as opportunities to be your best self! Weekly goals involving sharing healthy habits, self-care, energy builders, sustainability, environmental resilience, stress relief and creativity earn participant points toward a WD charity donation and, of course, winner’s bragging rights for the week! Staff completes their goal forms and submits them with any photos of their activities; they also post some of these on our Instagram and tag @WestgroupDesigns for some online promo! Sharing the weekly updates with these great submissions serves as a scrapbook of the success along the way, which we will be continuing to do, sharing this at our quarterly all staff celebrations!

Now its YOUR TURN! We’re providing our custom template of our WFH Challenge for you to use with your staff and teams. Have fun with it, and feel free to tag @WestgroupDesigns with your photos…we may just feature YOU and your inspiring activities in an upcoming post!

Sustainable and resilient strategies, for their places and spaces, is a priority that we share with our clients and project partners. As our team, along with all of you, celebrates the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, in support of the efforts to protect our environment, thinking globally, acting locally, we are reminded of what we can do, and continue to do, while we WFH (Westgroup From Home).

Everyone in the WD family is committed to reducing our individual carbon footprint. Here are just a few ways our team members are contributing to ecological resilience from home:

Westgroup Designs celebrates the success of their client, Alignment Healthcare, being touted as the ‘Fastest Growing OC-based Private Company’ on the Orange County Business Journal’s 2019 List.

The 110,000 sf headquarters for this National organization was designed in 3 phases on 5 floors in Orange, CA.  Previously located in several smaller offices, this new design brings the 400-person staff  together under one roof, providing a unique work environment for both their healthcare and administrative professionals. The dynamic, progressive office space features diverse work and amenity zones planned for private, open, team, social and training functions, bolstered by sophisticated digital technology. Promoting knowledge sharing and a collaborative work ethic, many spaces also have dual functions for creative flexibility. This planning and design concept continues to work well, allowing this “patient-centric” organization to grow as they do their best work on behalf of the communities they serve.

Westgroup Designs (WD) and our client, Orange County Public Works, have recently completed “Bridges at Kraemer Place” the new Year-Round Emergency Shelter and Multi-Service Center in Anaheim, a comprehensive facility dedicated to transitioning homeless individuals into permanent housing and jobs.

Of the 4 Shelter Types: Emergency, Transitional, Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive, this vital stepping stone is essential as the county estimates that about 70 percent of the emergency shelter beds have been reserved for families or single and pregnant women.

The goals of Bridges at Kraemer Place, and its programs, include support to help reduce the number of persons who experience homelessness in our community and increase access to housing opportunities for chronically homeless individuals.

This facility houses 200, with an emphasis on single adults, and will be staffed 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, and will be managed by Mercy House, a leading nonprofit organization that provides services for those experiencing homelessness. Unlike other emergency shelters, this one will house men and women for between 60-90 days, with a reservation. The Shelter’s primary focus is assisting program participants with creating a housing plan, making connections to housing resources and ending their homelessness as soon as possible.

WD planned and designed the existing industrial concrete tilt-up structure and it’s 1.87 acre site into a 24,000 square foot multi-functional facility, which features ample locker, shower and restroom facilities; an on-site comprehensive medical clinic with nurse’s station, lab, pharmacy and exam rooms; a commercial kitchen; separate men’s and women’s sleeping quarters, a dining hall, laundry room, computer lab, storage, administration suite, and flexible, multi-purpose rooms for daytime program activities, including supportive services, employment and job placement referrals and Life Skills classes & workshops, as well as indoor and outdoor recreation activities.

Orange County Assemblywoman, Sharon Quirk-Silva [District #65], secured an additional $5 Million from the 2018-2019 State Budget’s Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund to expand support services at Bridges at Kraemer Place observing that this is a “sensible step in the right direction, with its support from local government, law enforcement and the community”. She added that “it is not the time to turn our backs on some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Supporting a proven successful shelter, already in operation, is the logical first approach to confront the complicated issue of homelessness....and will “ease the burden put on our neighborhood streets in times of crisis”.

Westgroup Designs continues our commitment to Social Responsibility, working to enhance our Community and the people it serves, every day. Learn more about WD’s local community support here.

WD promotes Breast Cancer Awareness and funds research efforts through Team Enrichment Challenge and Industry Design Competition.

Our mission is to support the cause.
Our dream is that one day we won’t have to.

Passionate about both wellness and design, our WD team eagerly looks forward to the time in October when we can Do Good for our community as we creatively promote Breast Cancer Awareness and contribute to research efforts through our staff and firm’s annual events. Participating in our 5th Annual Wine & Design, an event in collaboration with A Common Thread for the Cure, a nonprofit organization that supports breast cancer patients and survivors, we, along with other local architecture & design firms, are invited to design 2 wine labels, a white and a red variety, for a selected winery who will produce the wine and donate profits from these special bottles to the non-profit organization.

This year, the inspirational theme provided was “With Spirit and Grace”. Our design team’s approach was to beautifully interpret the concept in two directions. The first, Bordeaux Blend, reflects a spark that ignites hope; finding the spirit within yourself, to move with grace through any adversity that is brought your way. The second label, for the Grenache Blanc, represents Unity. Every person, regardless of condition, appearance, story or challenges, are united; stronger together, through whatever cards one is dealt.

We are proud to continue partnering with this organization and lending a voice to the great work they are doing. Thanks to our Sponsors, Tangram and Milliken, for their support throughout the entire Wine & Design event!

We are also delighted to support Susan G. Komen For The Cure, through our internal Wellness Challenges. The winning team of our workout challenge gets to send a donation in their name to this organization which has the capacity to support patients through all stages: the awareness, early detection, treatment, and care for those affected by breast cancer.

Enriching the community is part of our focus each day - with our staff, clients and industry partners- through volunteering and competitions like this which make a difference in the way our clients live, work, play and heal.

The challenge structure was shaken up, but the competition remained fierce. Westgroup Designs hosts its second round of the wellness challenge between WD employees to elevate our minds, bodies, and our community!

The battle of the two teams, WD Aqua + WD Fireballs, was just as close as the last round, inspiring enthusiasm each week through exciting mini challenges. This round of the wellness challenge was all about making small changes. Changing just one bad habit and reinforcing great ones can make all the difference in us and our surroundings! Staff was given weekly tasks that vary in difficulty- from drinking the recommended eight glasses of water a day, going on a hike, or doing something kind for a stranger. These tasks challenged the participants to explore new ways to improve themselves, and inspired teamwork and comradery in the office!

This time Team Aqua was crowned victorious, receiving a donation for a charity that is important to them: The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

“Having the winning team choose the charity that will receive a donation is incredibly uplifting. People are inspired to work that much harder to meet their wellness challenge goals. It boosts positive energy- Everyone is in it to win it!" Sima Hassani, Principal

Enriching the community is part of what we focus on each day with our staff, clients and industry partners- through volunteering and competitions like this, to focusing on even the smallest details in each project, which make a difference in the way our clients live, work, play and heal.

They say all good things come in three’s, so keep checking in to see what we have coming up next!