New Law Office
Eastman & Smith LTD.
When Toledo law firm Eastman & Smith needed to lease new office space, they began reevaluating their growing needs while trying to stay connected to their existing roots in downtown. The firm opted to remain in One Seagate and move to the 27th floor of the facility, and they sought SSOE to design their new 22,400 SF space. In order to make this space work, our team of architects and interior designers were able to create an office that reflected the firm’s brand and mission while focusing on providing welcoming spaces for clients and employees.
In their previous space, Eastman & Smith’s office denoted an obvious hierarchy in terms of office size and location. In the new space, the firm wanted a neutral and level playing field, as well as a more collaborative environment. In the new design, the offices are all the same size and are outfitted with the same fixtures. There are no corner offices in the new design, and instead the four corners are spaces that can be utilized by any employee.
To accommodate diverse work needs, the space also features flex offices that allow for a hybrid experience, and large and small meeting rooms. Technology was upgraded throughout the suite to provide team meeting spaces and electronic sign-outs for a variety of spaces.
The renovated space includes employee-focused and collaborative areas: a café with views of the Maumee River, spaces for collaboration and team-bonding, and a wellness room. The wellness room is a private area built for one person to have quiet space. There is a separate mothers room.
Our interior designers worked with the furniture vendor to incorporate prefabricated modular walls for the offices. We selected the furniture and finishes for the built environment. In addition to the aesthetic and functional elements, SSOE provided structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering, along with Data / Fire / Security services.
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We found ourselves in need of a more robust tool to enhance resource forecasting and staff assignment capabilities. Instead of waiting for the perfect tool, we’re building it. SSOE’s in-house technology team has developed and piloted a tool that aims to forecast optimal staff mix and duration for new projects against existing workload to better understand capacity and manage resources efficiently. Additionally, the tool will allow teams to estimate staff requirements and identify gaps.
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Today, 75% of SSOE employees are have taken the training and have access to Copilot, with a goal of 100% of employees using Copilot by October 1, 2025.
We helped our client visualize and optimize façade design for occupant comfort—long before breaking ground through the use of the Autodesk Forma tool. It allows the designer to rapidly experiment with the building’s geometry and façade design to discover the most suitable form, prioritizing quality of spaces and comfort for end uses, especially in extreme climates (daylighting and microclimate analysis tools) at the project’s exact geographic location, using location-specific environmental data.
Discover how SSOE is using Autodesk Forma to improve sustainability outcomes for industrial projects: SSOE Group: Improving sustainability outcomes for industrial projects with Autodesk Forma
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SSOE is actively piloting AI copilots that use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to streamline both design and development tasks, transforming how our teams interact with software and each other.
By integrating copilot engines into platforms like Revit and GitHub, we’re enabling users to prompt complex actions using simple, conversational commands. In Revit, this means automating tasks such as cleaning up parameter data, managing annotations and dimensions, and organizing sheets—without writing scripts. These automations can be shared across project teams, accelerating workflows and reducing manual effort.
Similarly, our internal Software Development Community is leveraging GitHub Copilot to expedite coding tasks. Developers can generate and refine code using NLP prompts, tapping into GitHub’s enterprise knowledge base to move faster from concept to implementation.
Together, these tools represent a shift from traditional, expert-driven scripting to intuitive, AI-assisted collaboration, unlocking new levels of efficiency and scalability across our projects.
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