Alexandria, Va., office was designed for collaboration and meetings but many employees choose to work there; ‘this reflects who we are'

The International Information System Security Certification Consortium wanted a collaboration space that reflected its employee-first culture and complemented its 2020 shift to remote work. They found it on the fourth and top floor of a building in Alexandria, Va.  

But the freshly opened space is so appealing, many employees choose to come in and work.

"The beauty of having a remote workforce is you can hire the best talent wherever they are as opposed to hiring the best talent in the area you are," said Clar Rosso, CEO of (ISC)², the world's largest association of certified cybersecurity professionals. (ISC)² offers 10 different certifications, from entry-level to the premier certified information systems security professional designation. "CISSP is to cybersecurity what CPA is to accounting," Rosso said.

The 34-year-old association has approximately 425,000 global members, associates and candidates at the start of their careers. Revenue in 2022 was approximately $79 million. The (ISC)²global staff of 275 employees works mostly remotely from Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, the U.K. and U.S. But the association wanted a space for collaboration, training and meetings.

The board decided in October 2021 to base the association in the Washington, D.C., metro area. (ISC)²formerly had headquarters offices in Clearwater, Fla., and operated satellite offices in Alexandria, London and Hong Kong.

"All our leases came due in the past three years, and we have not renewed any of them," Rosso explained. "We created a new space instead."

The association chose Alexandria because its office space is more affordable than D.C. proper. On May 22, (ISC)² officially moved in and hosted its first executive meetings in the new office.

"People walked in and said, ‘This really reflects who are as an organization and how important our employees are to us,'" Rosso said.

Location: 625 N. Washington Street, Suite 400, in Alexandria, Va. Built in 2000, the building offers views of the Potomac River. Rosso said it was just supposed to be a space mainly for collaboration and meetings for the board and members. She herself mostly works from her home in Chapel Hill, N.C. But employees are choosing to work in the new space. They love the bright, open space and Old Town Alexandria's charming shops, restaurants and walking paths. "We easily have 100 to 150 people in here working at any time," Rosso said. "A small, core group of less than a dozen employees [the customer experience team] will be at the office regularly but it will ebb and flow."

Moving on: (ISC)² donated most of its office, coffee and breakroom supplies to a local school in Clearwater, Fla. The association's servers and other IT equipment relocated from Clearwater to the new office.

Length of lease: 11 years, 6 months.

Floorplan: (ISC)² gutted and completely renovated the new space. At 14,248 square-feet, the open-concept, modern office is nearly half the size of its former headquarters. Collaborative work areas feature high-top and low-top tables, round seating areas with sofas and chairs, benches, single and double booths. Electrical hookups and portable chargers are widely available. There are no assigned workstations or need to reserve space. The office can comfortably accommodate about 250 people. "There's no door for me," Rosso said. "I'm out in the open like everyone else."

The open kitchen and break area has a coffee maker, espresso machine, and built-in bins for recycling and trash. An ice maker, refrigerator and two dishwashers are concealed behind cabinet doors.

Enclosed spaces: A soundproof podcast room, relaxation room, two conference rooms (one large, one small) and a room outfitted with 12 sit-to-stand workstations all have doors.

Noises off: Spatial Softzone light fixtures, which have noise-reducing features, hang from the ceiling in the open collaboration area. Some walls are covered in fabric instead of paint to absorb sound. Double glass walls in the conference rooms act as sound barriers.

A place for everything: There are two sets of lockers, one specifically to store luggage.

Brand awareness: At the entrance, the (ISC)² logo appears on the front and back of a column. On the east and west sides of the office, the association's vision, "Inspiring a safe and secure cyber world," is written in white vinyl letters on blue columns. Ceramic mugs with the association's logo are displayed on a shelf in the kitchen.

Building amenities: Conveniences include a Trader Joes, a Talbots women's clothing store, a fitness center and a first floor mail room. The third floor has two conference rooms and a collaboration/café area for tenant use. (ISC)² has direct access to balconies on the east and west sides of the building.

Interior Design: OTJ Architects.

Commercial Real Estate Specialists: Adam Collins of Transwestern and Matt Sultenfuss of the Avocat Group represented (ISC)² .

Special touches: Snake plants add warmth to the large conference room. Abstract art ties together the modern theme. Touches of color—yellow, green, blue and maroon—create an inviting atmosphere.