Hacker's New Home: Listening and Learning

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An early rendering of District Office’s distinctive double-height spaces

Hacker’s New Home: Listening and Learning

Jennie Fowler
October 30, 2019

In our first post we shared the vision and values driving our upcoming move to District Office and informing the design of our new space. As we dove into the process of designing our workspace, the values of listening and remaining open to new information would become especially crucial.

We conducted extensive surveys to understand how people want the space to feel and what they need to be their best at work—to be happy, creative, and effective. Like any organization contemplating its future workspace, our initial opinions were shaped by the experience of our previous, split-level office, which left us yearning to share a single floor with expansive pin-up space. Then what at first seemed like an inconvenience—a temporary move—became an opportunity to test and learn from a workspace originally designed for a tech company.

At District Office, we found that occupying a single floor wouldn’t necessarily provide the connection we desired. Instead our studio again will occupy two levels, unified by a double-height commons incorporating a kitchen, lounge areas, social stair, and sliding picture windows. This approach places everyone in closer proximity to the commons, the social heart of our new space, and provides for equitable access.

We’d heard a clear desire for a less formal studio space, one more like a workshop, but within this notion there was a lot to balance: “me” and “we” work, fixed and flexible, thinking and making. As we worked to strike the right balance, an overarching goal was to create a space where everyone could feel a sense of belonging.

We looked at dozens of “neighborhood” configurations as a way to maximize pin-up space, but our focus shifted when we stepped back and really considered how we connect day to day. Rather than defining discreet spaces for the messiness of creative making, we created room for this collaborative work to happen within the studio. The result is an open, offset grid of desk pods, pin-up/projection walls, and meeting tables, with room for team huddles, hands-on making, and desk-side sketching conversations.

Our takeaway? While being our own client may never be easy, the process has raised essential questions—about our mission, values, and how we work. It’s a conversation that’s nearly impossible to have in any other context, so when the opportunity presents itself, don’t try to short-cut the process. We’ll have a preview of the final design in our next post.