AUSTIN TX | 250,000 SF

SHI International is passionate about delivering exceptional value and experience to help customers select, deploy, and manage technology. The company prides itself on collaborative, inclusive work to serve its worldwide clients, and its new headquarters in Austin, Texas, embodies this mission. GSC Architects set out to create a timeless, inspirational, and functional workplace where everyone would genuinely enjoy doing their job. SHI blue and white on the outside, the building is a modern combination of copious amounts of daylight, green hill country views, open office space, and carefully chosen materials in one organic, flowing 250,000 SF office building.

A calm design presence welcomes all entering the building through the first-floor lobby; then, the colors start to pop! The building’s interior finish out is as bold as its exterior appearance. Bold electric blues, subtle reds, and lime greens mirroring SHI’s branding colors are tastefully woven throughout the space, reflecting and fueling the company’s sales force’s high energy atmosphere. Tech-driven patterns incorporated in the flooring, fabrics, and glazing details resonate with the company’s mission.  A colorful LED-lit glass stairway leads to the open office areas and conference rooms. Each floor is filled with ergonomic sit to stand workstations with gathering nodes at the core. Natural light from expansive windows fills the open office, cutting energy costs and enhancing employees’ well-being. Comfortable breakout spaces for impromptu meetings are mixed throughout each floor to promote strong team engagement.   Glass walls and carpet tiles in SHI corporate colors identify Small Conference and Phone Rooms on each floor.  Corridors are defined by ceiling heights and flooring finishes rather than by traditional walls.

Every design decision GSC Architects made has guided us to gain a USGBC LEEDv4 BD+C Silver designation. Shaw products were an easy choice for this project; each product chosen allows us to highlight the Cradle to Cradle Certification, Health Product Declaration (HPD), Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), and CRI Green Label Plus (GLP) certificates. Currently undergoing LEED registration, SHI is on track to earn Exemplary Performance for Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – EPD.  The completion of SHI International Austin in March 2020 coinciding with the worldwide COVID pandemic. The company delayed occupying the building while we strategized social distancing design solutions for open workstations and collaborative spaces. Staggered work schedules, removing seats in group areas, and installing frosted shields between workstations allow SHI to occupy their headquarters in shifts.  GSC’s timeless design of defining ‘corridors,’ open work areas, and conference rooms by carpet patterns, sizes, and corporate colors allows our designs to blend with today’s world’s social distancing design criteria.  With its bold, tasteful use of color, texture, and patterns, SHI is an inspiring, elegant, and healthy workspace designed to support employees’ long term growth.

CLIENT Brandywine Realty Trust SERVICES PROVIDED Programming, Construction Documents, Interior Design, Renderings, Construction Administration, FF&E RENDERINGS Bogza PHOTOGRAPHY Texas Hill Country Photographers + GSC Architects