“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Common practice in architecture allows few key personnel to see the journey of a given project. As such, the remaining project team will only see a small picture of their design. At Berkowsky and Associates, Inc. (BAI), the size and celebratory culture of the company builds a more inclusive environment and offers some reprieve from the norm. Even going beyond the project journey, company employees received a gift at year’s end, not only as the traditional holiday ‘thank you,’ but uniquely honoring their work—a 12-month subscription of designer fragrances by Scentbird, a BAI client for both design and construction management.
“Scentbird inspires fragrance lovers to go beyond the ordinary and sample scents that evoke passion, confidence, and the unknown. Our mission is to revolutionize the way we perfume by bringing the ultimate fragrance playground right to your fingertips … offering a digital subscription service that lets members choose from over 500 designer perfumes...” [scentbird.com]
Scentbird first engaged BAI to fit out a newly leased facility so they could expand their operations; business was and is continuously flourishing.
“With our history of designing and building for manufacturing and operations spaces, we were able to learn Scentbird’s processes and apply a program to fit their growth needs—and in doing so, we really got to know about their great product and their mission.” explained Mark Berkowsky, BAI President.
Siri Berkowsky Heinrichs, CEO/CFO, commented “We had just completed the first phase of construction [for Scentbird] in the fall, and the next phase would be starting in the new year. During the holidays, we enjoy giving a gift to our staff to celebrate their hard work. This year we thought it would be fun to ‘marry’ our gift with our new unique client by offering each employee a 12-month gift subscription. We also extended the gift to be transferable to a spouse or whomever our staff elected.”
The Selection
The gifted subscription works the same way it would for any consumer: the recipient selects their fragrances through the website, or is surprised by Scentbird’s selection, and one fragrance is shipped each month for 12 months. “I like that I get a variety of perfumes so I can share them with my mom if I get a scent I think she’ll like, and there are so many perfumes to choose from.” said Deidre Gocke, LEED AP, BAI Senior Architectural Project Manager, and Project Manager for the Scentbird project.
The Unboxing
Design personnel from BAI observed Scentbird’s existing facility in order to translate their space needs into the new location, but understanding this from a design perspective could not reveal an unboxing experience. “Perfume is a known fragile item to ship so I expected some bubble wrap, but the branded hard shell casing inside the travel bag was a cool find—I hadn’t seen anything like that before. I was impressed.” said Cristiana Formica, Client Relations Manager, “It’s a well thought-out design for traveling with perfume or cologne.”
The unboxing reveals Scentbird gold accents imprinted on the scent’s travel bag and casing. The fragrance can be used inside or out of its case using a unique packaging. The case itself has a magnetic closure and is easily opened, revealing the filled vial with scent label.
“It's great to see the end product after designing Scentbird’s manufacturing and distribution facility.” stated Ted Yasson, Senior Architectural Designer.
About the Project
The new Scentbird facility is a build-out of a shell warehouse as a fragrance filling and distribution center with warehousing and offices. Look for pictures at project completion, coming soon!
