In 2020, we, along with the rest of the world, went remote. As spaces began to reopen, Silverchair made the choice to lean into a remote-first hybrid modality, one that embraced the many benefits that remote work offered and gave our employees the flexibility to work in the way that best suited them. As we’ve continued to grow (now double the size we were in 2020), our workforce has become increasingly dispersed and global (as you’d expect from our expanded footprints with our products and clients).
Which is why today we are closing the doors on our Charlottesville headquarters and transitioning to a fully remote organization.
This change brings with it a lot of excitement but also a lot of nostalgia, as the Hardware Store offices have held a special place in Silverchair history. In its days as an actual hardware store, the building was known as “Old Reliable,” a nod to its ability to meet almost any need. The previous tenants boasted a remarkable 30-year run in the building. As we close out our 18-year residency, we wanted to pause and mark this moment with reflections from our team on where we’ve been and where we’re going.
Lisa Cunningham, VP, Implementation (also Employee #2):
“When I joined Silverchair, the company occupied one suite in the Milgraum Center, next door to the Hardware Store building. At that time, the Hardware Store Restaurant still catered to townies and tourists alike, with its pickle bar, enormous menu, and sweet shop. The restaurant closed at the end of 2006. By that time, Silverchair had expanded into at least five additional spaces in Milgraum, including an odd half floor with no elevator stop (reminiscent of Being John Malkovich). Soon, the noise of renovation intruded from the other side of the wall as the Hardware Store building began its transformation into a sleek, modern office space that still retained a few signs of its origins as an actual hardware store, most notably the huge freight elevator doors. The designers emphasized form over function, and at first everyone was excited to leave behind the hodgepodge of Milgraum with its restaurant aromas and other strange odors and its carpet-walled elevator. Over time, the matching but not so comfortable chairs, the no plants edict, and the restrictions on hanging art faded away and the spaces started to reflect the people who worked in them every day.”Silverchair moved in to the building in 2007 (read the history of the building and see renovation photos here). Over the years the Hardware Store has seen no shortage of shenanigans, whether that's offices covered floor to ceiling in post it notes, errant Christmas trees in July, champagne carts, or karaoke. For a time, the building itself was a part of the Silverchair team.
Lily Garcia Walton, Chief People Officer & General Counsel:
“Over the years, the Hardware Store has given our people a sense of place and meaning. In the before times, working here was compulsory and, even as we struggled to accommodate our growing community, this was a place where nerf gun fights spontaneously erupted and our scrum teams personalized spaces to reflect their quirks. During the pandemic, this became a safe haven. We required proof of vaccination to enter the building every day, and we took great pains to organize social gatherings here that prioritized the physical and emotional wellbeing of our people. As we emerged from those difficult years, we settled into a comfortable routine, with a small number of “Office Homies” (what we nicknamed those who preferred to co-work IRL) luxuriating in the beautiful abundant space and enjoying the camaraderie of our shared den. All the while, our frontiers were gradually dissolving, and our community was slowly growing to encompass Silverchairians in every corner of the world. Although it is hard to part with a place where we made so many fond memories, we also proudly embrace our new identity as a truly global company, and we look forward to this new chapter of our great story.”There have many inflection points in Silverchair’s history where hands were wrung over whether the company’s unique culture could weather the changes – the move from physical textbooks to The Internet, the pandemic, the acquisition of ScholarOne – but in each case it’s proven true that the Silverchair culture isn’t confined to print pages or physical spaces, but instead is a way of working that we carry with us (yes, I did say we were feeling sentimental).
The clearest evidence of that culture in action is the way we engage with our clients, a differentiator since Silverchair’s early days.
Emilie Delquié, Chief Product & Customer Success Officer:
“For years, our strength has been our people—a talented team spread across time zones, dedicated to supporting you wherever you are. We’ve always operated with a global mindset, and our ability to serve clients from Charlottesville, Oxford, or Beijing has never been tied to a single brick-and-mortar location. Closing our physical office isn't a change in our direction; it’s a confirmation of it. This step formalizes the flexible, results-driven, and borderless way we already work. It allows us to invest even more in what truly matters: our team, our technology, and our partnership with you. While our central office is changing, our commitment to face-to-face connection is stronger than ever. Here are a few ways in which we’ll continue to connect in real life:The Hardware Store has served to extend our community efforts not only through the way it has housed our people, but also through the many clients and partners who have visited us there, through the local artists we promoted through our front window displays, through the workshops hosted with local community leaders and high school groups, and more. Now, we’ve learned how to build community outside of walls - through webinars, virtual client events, working groups, communities of practice, volunteer committees, and more.
• At industry events & conferences: We’ll be actively attending (and speaking at) key events like SSP, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the STM Conference and many more. We’re on the road year-round.
• On-site visits: We like to travel to you for strategic planning sessions, project kick-offs, and annual reviews as often as possible. We are judicious with our travel and mindful of our carbon footprint, but nothing replaces the magic of a day/afternoon/meal in person.
• Charlottesville meetings: Our team will maintain some space in a nearby coworking facility and will continue to host team and client meetings onsite there as needed.
• Our own customer and industry events: We will continue to host our signature events, like our annual Fall Forum, Platform Strategies, and ScholarOne Summit (registration is open here) in September in Washington. These events are invaluable and we have every intention of keeping them on our annual calendar.”
When previous tenants moved out of the first floor space in 2019, they took down the historic Hardware Store sign from the front of the building on the downtown pedestrian mall. Later that day I found a remnant on the bricks, a piece of history—not only Charlottesville's but our own. Every Silverchairian (past or present) who has spent time in this building will carry a piece of it in their hearts, even as we move forward into this next chapter of our exciting new reality.
We memorialized our time at the Hardware Store with a piece of artwork from the a local artist depicting the building, along with a plaque. Our founder also signed the famous / infamous stairwell alongside signatures dating back to the 1920s.
And now, throwback photos:
