Pillar // Alector

Creating more focused work space without altering your office floor plan.

Alector is a trailblazing biotech firm in the Bay Area with a visionary therapeutic approach to stopping neurodegeneration. In pursuit of their goal – a world where dementia and neurodegeneration are illnesses of the past – Alector has built a large team of scientists and business people. Alector’s office is a sprawling open-floor space, with laboratories and offices spread across two floors. The openness of the space was ideal at first, and it enabled their collaborative approach to immunio-neurology. However, as they grew to a team of over 250 employees, they found their team requesting more private offices and/or quiet spaces for focused work. Turning conference rooms into offices wasn’t a viable option, as each additional office meant one less conference room. So Alector found themselves in the market for phone booths, a solution that enabled them to stand up focused work spaces quickly without significantly altering the floor plan of the office.

“The soundproofing is amazing. Even better than our private offices!"

Not all phone booths are created equal.

Kristina, Alector’s Director of Facilities, originally purchased two booths from another brand to test the concept. The Alector team liked the first two (non-Pillar) booths in theory, however, they created more problems than they solved. They took up too much space because of their large footprint, they got too warm because of poor ventilation, and the soundproofing – which was the whole point – was not very good. Kristina set off searching for a higher quality booth that would provide a more comfortable experience for the Alector team. Eventually, Kristina found Pillar. Alector installed three Pillar Booths, and their team instantly noticed the difference between the Pillar Booths and the other (non-Pillar) booths in the office.

“They are used more than our conference rooms. People use them for phone calls, zoom calls, or just a quiet place to focus on solving technical problems.”

"We have a really high end award-winning office, and the Pillar Booths fit in perfectly with our decor."

The results

The three Pillar Booths at the Alector office were in such high demand that Kristina placed additional orders. Over time, Alector installed an additional 12 Pillar Booths across their two floors, and they are in constant use. Alector has dedicated spaces with rows of booths for employees on the business side of things, and they also have individual booths arranged in convenient locations around the laboratory so their scientists can handle communications without disrupting the workflow of their teammates. As the Director of Facilities, Kristina really appreciates the fact that Pillar Booths are plug and play, as that allows her to install booths in the most convenient locations for the Alector team..

"They are used more than our conference rooms. People use them for phone calls, zoom calls, or just a quiet place to focus on solving technical problems." In addition, a Pillar Booth is a much more efficient use of space than a conference room. As a result, Alector has found that in use cases where an individual needs a space for either a quick meeting or extended work session, booths work better than conference rooms. This not only creates more individual productivity, but also increases the availability of conference rooms for larger meetings.

According to Kristina, ever since the first Pillar Booths were installed in Alector’s offices, she is often asked, “can you put more booths near our work area?" The Alector employees love using Pillar Booths, and they feel well positioned to do their work of improving the lives of people with neurodegenerative diseases.