Inside ZURB's workspace

Four years ago ZURB set about transforming a worn-down office space at the edge of Silicon Valley into its bold, beautiful and award-winning new headquarters. The ultra-modern 12,500 square-foot building includes comfortable common spaces, colourful breakout rooms and a balcony to soak up the California sun (complete with barbecue grill).

Designing for a bunch of designers isn’t the easiest of jobs. Our architect spent countless hours going back and forth with us, discussing everything from lighting to acoustics to help us design the perfect spaces to collaborate in.

• Inside IBM Studios

During this process, our architect created a computer-animated sun study to see how the light would affect the studio throughout the day. Anyone that’s worked in the web industry knows that lighting plays a critical factor. The building is filled with windows that flood the office with natural light throughout working hours.

Our team begins each day at 9am sharp with a morning scrum around the bar. We discuss what we’re working on, what our goals are, and how we can best help each other reach them.

Our building has several flexible common areas. These are all equipped with whiteboards, large LCD screens and Apple TVs so we easily can throw up our work and give feedback.

Unsurprisingly, the kitchen is one of the most popular areas of the office and is often the centre of passionate discussions, ranging from what are the hottest fonts of the moment to which is the best movie in the Star Wars anthology. We keep the shelves stocked with all kinds healthy and not-so-healthy of snacks, and lunch is catered weekly.

Every Friday, we set aside 15 minutes to take part in creative challenges and games. These help our team let loose, while building a culture of collaboration and trust. The drawings on the pillar are from one of our recent challenges – sketching each other without looking down at the paper!

This article was originally published in net magazine issue 288. Buy it here.

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