For the new location, the team landed on a spot in the city of Mechelen, a picturesque Flemish town roughly midway between Brussels and Antwerp. “The new offices are within walking distance from the train station, and it’s only 11 minutes to Brussels International Airport,” says Kampert. “Mechelen is growing and moving — just like Crestron,” she adds. “We can evolve together.”

The new space was a blank canvas, one that was designed to “make the commute worth it.” Understanding the new realities of hybrid work informed the design — a truly future-ready design. “There are lots of flex spaces and offices that could become assigned in the future,” says Kampert. (That flexibility extends to the building’s very infrastructure, with non-load-bearing walls that can easily be moved or taken down altogether.)

For guests, it’s a living, functional display of hybrid work solutions.

“It’s an office where visitors are welcome,” says Kampert. “People will actually be working there, and we’ll be inviting all our partners and dealers to visit and experience the space and its solutions.”

“They’ll see the technology in action in real life, in real-time.”

Kampert and the Crestron Europe core team working on the move — Wim Rogier, Kenneth Noyens, Nikolas Van den Abeele, and Ronny Van Den Boom (along with Aleksandar Stupar and Gabor Molnar from IT and HR together with assistance from Andrew Razgaitis in the States) — are overseeing the project with design help from designers and interior architects.

The technology solutions in play are a cross-section of everything Crestron offers, including:

• Crestron Flex solutions
• Crestron Flex Pods
• Crestron 1 Beyond cameras
• Automate VX™ voice-activated speaker tracking solution
• Crestron Videobar 70 all-in-one collaboration bar
• Crestron desk and room scheduling solutions, including touch screens
• NVX® AV-over-IP, AV-over-IP technology
• DM NAX® Audio-over-IP technology
• DM Lite® technology
• AirMedia® wireless presentation and conferencing systems
• Crestron Saros® pendant speakers

“There’s also digital signage in communal spaces, which distributes both internal messaging and relevant content for visitors,” says Kampert. Two rooms are set up to optimize Microsoft Teams® Rooms' front-row software solutions. The entire space features ceiling mics by Shure and Sennheiser, a variety of displays from Sony, Philips, and Jupiter, and KNX lighting integrated with Crestron solutions. “We’ve outfitted our training rooms with intelligent video cameras driven by Automate VX, and that’s an extremely powerful example of what Crestron can do,” says Kampert.

“The space is equipped with plenty of flexible desks, small meeting rooms, and open-plan areas that encourage collaboration and adaptability,” she adds.

The fluid nature of hybrid work is addressed, too — in detail. “Our vehicle parking solution is equipped with a scheduling software system,” says Kampert. “You can book your parking space or that of your visitor in advance. Of course, the same goes for our flexible offices and meeting rooms — they will all be bookable from home with an app.”