After nearly 23 years in our current building, AGU staff took time to prepare for the move to our temporary space at 1 Thomas Circle, which will serve as our new home for the duration of construction and renovation.

Madeleine Tshiams, Senior Program Administrator, sits at her new desk in AGU’s temporary space.
As you can imagine the process of moving an office with a staff of more than 100 people is not an easy undertaking. The entire process is the culmination of months of hard work. Along with transporting laptops, computers, and personal items, there’s also the files, archived journals and Eos issues, furniture, cubicles, printers, conference tables, and other items that need to be moved, stored for reuse, or recycled during our displacement.
Our temporary space features an open floor plan that will be a transition for staff from the current building as we learn to effectively work in an open environment. When we return to 2000 Florida, we’ll have a more efficient, open work space that fosters productivity and collaboration across AGU’s programs.
The new building will also allow us to better support science and our members through a state-of-the-art conference center and a members’ lounge. The conference center will be available for use by the neighborhood, city groups, think tanks, educational institutions and other organizations. Our lounge will encourage members to make the new headquarters building their home-away-from-home when they are visiting Washington, D.C., giving them a venue to meet and convene to share their science. I’ll share even more about how the interior of the building complements AGU’s values in a future blog post.
I’ve included a few photos from our final days in the building and settling at our new space below.

Packing a staff of more than 100 employees, after 23 years in the same location, requires a lot of boxes.

Jamea Harrison, AGU Meetings Assistant, organizes boxes for storage.

Lexi Shultz, Director of Public Affairs, recycles old documents and packs her office in advance of AGU’s move to a temporary office space.

Travis Frazier, an AGU graphic designer, packs up his cubicle. When AGU returns to the renovated building, staff will work in an open floor plan.

Staff have moved out of AGU headquarters while the building undergoes renovation to meet net zero energy goals. Staff will move back in 2018. Photo credit: Kevin Koski.