Editor’s Note: Here, Commercial Integrator’s editors highlight one of our 2026 Integration Award-winning projects. Ford AV earned top project honors in the Best Small Office category. Read on to learn why our judges deemed this project the most impressive small-office project of 2026!
Ford AV has won Best Small Office Project for its work at Simpson Strong-Tie’s new facility in Plano, Texas. The company, which makes engineered building solutions, wanted more than a collection of meeting rooms. It wanted an executive-briefing center and customer experience where visitors could engage with its products, technology and history through interactive digital experiences.
For the integrator, the challenge was a moving target. Simpson Strong-Tie kept refining its vision as construction progressed, and Ford AV had to absorb each expansion without moving the planned occupancy date.
Key Things to Know
- The project: Simpson Strong-Tie’s Plano facility combines an executive-briefing center, customer-experience areas, executive offices and meeting spaces.
- The centerpiece: an interactive DVLED wall that multiple users can manipulate at the same time.
- The standout feature: an RFID-enabled system that calls up drawings, specifications and videos when a product is placed on an interactive surface.
- The challenge: The scope kept growing during construction, including enterprise room scheduling for more than 170 rooms and spaces.
- The result: According to Ford AV, it delivered the expanded installation by the planned occupancy date.
What Did Simpson Strong-Tie Want From Its Plano Office?
Simpson Strong-Tie wanted an immersive briefing and customer experience, not just meeting rooms. Ford AV’s longstanding relationship with the company led to early planning discussions centered on that experience rather than on technology alone.
Image courtesy of Antonio Daugherty, Ford AV.
The company’s technology team had already researched emerging collaboration technologies and interactive presentation concepts. Ford AV helped turn those concepts into an integrated technology strategy.
From the very inception of the project, the plan included an executive-briefing center, a customer-experience environment and an RFID-enabled product-demonstration system.
What Did Ford AV Install?
Ford AV integrated technology across the executive-briefing center, customer-experience areas, executive offices and meeting spaces. Systems include 16-foot-wide by 4.5-foot-tall DVLED displays, touch-enabled collaboration technology, auto-tracking cameras, ceiling microphone arrays, enterprise room scheduling and room controls.
Two presentation spaces can operate independently or combine into one larger venue. Custom room programming lets the primary presentation space shift among boardroom, classroom, town-hall, customer-demonstration and presentation layouts.
How Does the Interactive DVLED Wall Work?
The wall is a touch-enabled DVLED display that several people can work on at once. Visitors can explore products, collaborate on presentations and interact with multimedia on the expansive display.
The facility also includes an interactive digital timeline of the company’s history on a 105-inch touch display.
How Does the RFID Demonstration System Work?
Placing a Simpson Strong-Tie product on an interactive surface automatically brings up its drawings, specifications, videos and supporting information on the display. The system links physical products to digital content, and the integrator calls it one of the installation’s most distinctive features.
How Did Ford AV Handle a Growing Project Scope?
Ford AV adjusted installation sequencing, engineering updates and staffing as Simpson Strong-Tie added enhancements during construction. According to the integrator, the planned occupancy date held throughout.
Image courtesy of Antonio Daugherty, Ford AV.
Among the most significant additions was enterprise room scheduling across more than 170 meeting rooms, offices and collaboration spaces, which required careful sequencing and close coordination. Limited ceiling space posed another hurdle. Ford AV developed custom mounts so cameras, microphones and speakers could share the ceiling with lighting, HVAC and other building infrastructure. According to the integrator, the mounts preserve both system performance and the architectural design intent.
What Has Changed for Simpson Strong-Tie Teams?
Basel Halawi, manager, IT support services at Simpson Strong-Tie, says the technology has changed how teams collaborate, letting in-office and remote participants spend less time troubleshooting and more time on discussion, problem-solving and decisions.
“My favorite aspect has been how the technology supports a modern, collaborative workplace without adding complexity for users,” Halawi says. “The solution blends into the meeting experience, allowing employees to focus on communication and collaboration rather than the technology itself.”
What Lessons Does This Ford AV Project Offer Integrators?
The project shows the value of planning around the experience rather than the equipment list. Ford AV’s early discussions with Simpson Strong-Tie focused on how visitors and employees would use the space, and the technology strategy followed.
It also shows one way to absorb scope growth mid-construction: Ford AV adjusted sequencing, engineering and staffing to protect the occupancy date.
