While it seems like Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attends at least one groundbreaking or ribbon cutting each day, Suffolk Construction Co. broke up the monotony on Thursday morning with the groundbreaking for the addition to its Boston headquarters. During the ceremony for the new 38,000 sq-ft addition, Walsh and Suffolk executives donned virtually reality headsets together. But they weren’t blowing off the morning playing videogames.
“In lieu of a traditional groundbreaking ceremony with chrome shovels and dirt,” Suffolk said in a statement released before the ceremony, “the event will feature innovative virtual reality technologies that imitate the groundbreaking ritual and provide a virtual model rendering of the project.”
Wearing VR headsets alongside Walsh was Suffolk Chairman and CEO John Fish, Suffolk Northeast President and General Manager Angus Leary and Suffolk Chief Innovation Officer Chris Mayer.
The expansion will feature collaborative work spaces, an amphitheater, a new employee cafeteria, fitness and wellness center, second-floor terrace and an outdoor basketball court. Suffolk is also building an Innovation Lab to test new and existing technologies for implementation on Suffolk projects.
