Located in San Francisco's SoMA neighborhood, Pinterest's new 45,000-square-foot headquarters feature four "houses," architectural volumes where employees can collaborate in groups. (Click Image To Enlarge)
TO MATCH THE UNCERTAIN NATURE OF STARTUPS, COMPANY FOUNDER EVAN SHARP STEERED AWAY OF SLEEK DECADENCE IN FAVOR OF CLEAN SPACES THAT FOSTER CREATIVE COLLABORATION.
When talking about workplace design, the buzzword “collaboration” flies around the tech world faster than a speeding foosball. From startups working out of garages to sprawling corporate campuses, everyone is looking to harness the creative energy of people working together. Pinterest is no exception. The design-driven company is using its new 45,000-square-foot headquarters in San Francisco’s SoMA neighborhood as a test site for collaboration.
The hubs within the office are meant to foster community. But perhaps, in the spirit of Pinterest, they are more like fun houses, with something a little strange or unique in each one to bond people together. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The “war room” is designed for power-working sessions on deadline. Desks allow designers and engineers to work shoulder-to-shoulder on their laptops and then feverishly cover the whiteboard and glass walls with their brainstorming notes. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Employees moved into the space in April, filling a brick warehouse on 7th Street that had been stripped down to basics: large industrial windows, wood beams, steel structure. But into that raw space, concept designers Janette Kim, of All of the Above, and Anna Neimark and Andrew Atwood, from First Office, along with executive architect Neal Schwartz, inserted a grid of four white volumes. Each 20-by-20-foot cube-like “house” functions as a different kind of meeting, working, or gathering area. Almost totemic, these architectural interventions answer the challenge of how to have 150+ people working in an open-floor plan and still have places for quiet, creative intensity--and yes, collaboration.
Another meeting area. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The office is left intentionally unfinished. Says Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp: “The one certain thing about a startup is that the future is highly uncertain, and so like an information system, we wanted the design of the office to be flexible enough that the design would be able to adapt as the company changes over time. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp explained.
“The one certain thing about a startup is that the future is highly uncertain, and so like an information system, we wanted the design of the office to be flexible enough that the design would be able to adapt as the company changes over time. Like Pinterest (the service), we wanted our space to accommodate the most heterogeneous set of occupations possible. That's architect speak for, the space should enable you to work in many different ways. Whether you're comfortable working at a dedicated desk, on your laptop at a communal table, or in a dark corner in the basement, it's likely that you'll find a place that works for the way you like to work.”
“Like Pinterest (the service)," Sharp continues, "we wanted our space to accommodate the most heterogeneous set of occupations possible. That's architect speak for, the space should enable you to work in many different ways. Whether you're comfortable working at a dedicated desk, on your laptop at a communal table, or in a dark corner in the basement, it's likely that you'll find a place that works for the way you like to work.” (Click Image To Enlarge)
“We didn't want the space to give the impression of success or complacency or decadence, the way a lot of studio and agency spaces feel to me," Sharp says. (Click Image To Enlarge)
That doesn’t mean that emphasis is placed solely on efficiency or productivity. Like literal houses, the hubs within the office are meant to foster community. But perhaps, in the spirit of Pinterest, they are more like fun houses, with something a little strange or unique in each one to bond people together. For instance, an oversized circular table is intentionally too big for a single meeting or group lunch. Kim explains.
“We wanted to design a table that would be so large it would welcome anyone to work on it. If your table holds 20 people and five people are sitting at it, anyone can feel invited.”
By contrast, the “war room” is designed for power-working sessions on deadline. Desks allow designers and engineers to work shoulder-to-shoulder on their laptops and then feverishly cover the whiteboard and glass walls with their brainstorming notes.
Still, there's an element of fun, with vintage signs and tchotchkes brought in by employees. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The office is housed in a renovated brick warehouse on 7th Street. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The conversation of how to work collaboratively began for Kim long before she sketched a plan. Sharp was her student in 2008, when he was a graduate student studying architecture at Columbia University in New York City. Kim and Sharp remained in touch after he founded Pinterest in a garage and would discuss the connections between architecture, startup culture, and information design, contemplating how meaning is generated for spaces, objects, and photographs. Recalls Kim.
“We talked about a square, a circle, a cross--really basic things--but it was also a way to talk about the collaborative culture of the office, of relationships between people.”
The four "houses." (Click Image To Enlarge)
That dynamic culture expresses itself in the architecture and in the ever-changing displays of vintage signage and funky objects brought in by the staff. DIY art projects made by crafty “Pinployees” hang from the rafters, evidence of after-hours creativity.
Sharp explains.
“The office feels intentionally unfinished. We didn't want the space to give the impression of success or complacency or decadence, the way a lot of studio and agency spaces feel to me. We wanted it to feel like one stepping stone on a larger journey. This helps remind us how far we are from our ultimate aspirations for what Pinterest will become.”
COMMENTARY: I have always preferred the simplicity of open space plans over the confinement of office cubicles. Pinterest's new headquarters are quite typical of today's high technology startups: fast growing, team-oriented, highly social, creative and innovative. You almost have to do away with the cubicles in favor of just a few private places where peope can gather for collaborative brainstorming and private meetings. It means less investment in office furniture and sacrificing some privacy, in favor of clear lines of communication and social interaction and collaboration. When done properly, the architecture and interior space plan can, as in the case of Pinterest, appear very impressive and appealing to the eye.
I love the interior space plan concept of the "four houses," because the office spaces are purposely designed to foster a sense of community and belonging. Pinterest's HQ is probably a very noisey place, especially the lunch room area. It gives one the feeling of a community, a corporate family, if you will. Everything is out in the "open." Even the conference rooms have glass walls, so there is no attempt to hide anything. I didn't see any curtains, so I wonder how they handle confidential information. Just the same, Pinterest's new HQ came out quite impressive.
Courtesy of an article dated October 22, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design
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