Case Study: More than a Relocation

Head and Hands Relocation presents a case study that follows the organization through their office relocation over a period of three years. After a brief introduction to the participants and the research process, this extended chapter presents two parallel narratives. One is the turbulent yet remarkable journey of the staff as they dislocated—physically removing themselves and their departments from a rundown, yet beloved house—and relocated into a newly renovated, intelligently designed space. The other story follows the transition of Head and Hands through a period of disruption and potential, as the organization adapted and reformed itself with and within the new space. Here memories, feelings, and lived experience take centre stage as staff members describe their day-to-day encounters with two unique office spaces. Their experiences were materialized through memories and ghosts, emotions, embodied displacement, wellbeing and light, sterile coldness, echoes, transition, and camaraderie, as well as feelings of support, pride, and hope. These stories do not represent the experiences of Head and Hands as a singular unit, lived and shared equally by all staff; rather, they offer glimpses from those who participated in entering a myriad of possible relationships and ways of being in the organization’s two very different spaces. Drawing from themes explored earlier, this chapter reveals how moments of change and disruption can highlight organizational insight and disrupt patterns through increased aesthetic awareness. Through the staff’s rich and diverse spatial relationships, their office beats and breathes as if infused with a heart and mind.