SparkBase, the company featured yesterday, recently moved offices after several months of preparation to the new space. Given that the company designed the entire space, I thought it would be fun to hear a little bit more about the specifics of the build-out. Douglas Hardman was kind enough to respond to a few questions for us. And if you have any questions of your own, please leave them in the comments and we will try to get them answered. Enjoy!
1. How did you go about the process of designing the new office and how long did it take?
The last 2 times we’ve moved the company, it’s been a knee-jerk reaction to growth. Initially we had 4 guys crammed in the reception area of a company we were sharing office space with. One guy literally had to move when anyone came in the front door. When Geoff and I decided we were going to move to bigger offices, we did it knowing that we’d be moving in 4-6 months. This gave us plenty of time to scout for the right spot, work on making it right for our company, and planning on the move-in date. We also documented the whole process in a separate company blog. http://office.sparkbase.com. It’s cool to look back at where made changes to the design over time. We’d consult OfficeSnapShots.com a lot for decorating ideas, and conceptual things.
2. Were the employees of the company involved in the design process?
There were things that we’d always talked about having as a group, so we didn’t need to involve them too much. We purposely left them out of it for a good bit of the process. Our last move was awful. We didn’t have money for construction, so we ended up cutting-out early 3 days a week for a month to actually DO all the construction. The fun part was that I taught a bunch of programmers how to tape/float drywall and build walls, but that’s not a process I’d wish on them again. We took them through the naked space, but “move-in day” was the first time any of them saw the place finished. It made for a pretty fun day.
3. You mentioned that some of your inspiration for your new office came from Office Snapshots. Were there any particular offices that you found yourself going back to look at during your design process?
It was cool to see that companies like Twitter, and FaceBook didn’t have offices that were TOO much more lavish and cool than what we were looking to do. I always thought Big Spaceship, and eROI were very cool. Geoff would always be pinging me with quick notes like “Check out Freshview’s lighting concept.” or “Mahalo’s conference table is great.” (It was our inspiration for the cubicles and base in the developer’s area of our office.)
4. Did you need to purchase any additional office furniture for your new space? If so, what brands did you choose and why?
Historically, I’ve been a die-hard Ikea guy since all the way back to the late 90′s. I’ve got Ikea desks from 3 companies ago that are still in great shape. Bang-for-buck factor can’t be beat. This time around, we did get all new desks and chairs for everyone. We felt it was important for them to feel like they we’re moving into someplace new and fresh. Everyone has a nice big workstation to fill with monitors, and other gear associated with the payments processing industry.
For things like the dividers we made, I sat down with SketchUp and just started working out ideas. We wanted something that promoted them talking to each-other, gave a bit of privacy, and hid the large number of wires that they all have on their desks. We also wanted something rustic looking, but gave them a bunch of white-board space. I think that area has about 400 square feet of white-board for them to concept on.
The only piece of furniture that wasn’t new was a desk I found at my grandparents house. It is a 1930′s Doten-Dunton “Executive” desk. My uncle won it in a poker game from an executive at GE Lighting (in Warren Ohio where I grew up) in the 1960s, and he didn’t have room for it, so they ended up with it somehow. It’s HUGE and weighs almost 500lbs. I plan on having it restored to its former glory, when cash-flow permits. My office is pretty big, so I have plenty of room for it.
5. Have you seen an positive impact from the new design? If so, can you explain?
Most definitely. I can’t see how any of our old spaces were anything but a drag for the demeanor of our staff. We now have a lot of natural light, an open space, a dedicated lounge with all the gaming systems, and large work areas for everyone. The only thing I don’t like is that my office is at the complete opposite side of the space. I used to be able to haller out to them, and feel like I was involved with the process. Maybe that’s a good thing for them though…
6. What other information can you provide our readers to assist them in their future office design projects?
Since you asked…
#1 – Don’t rush into it. There are still things that we wish we’d taken more time with, and spent more money on. You’ll be there for 3-5 years. Plan for what you think you’ll need, and then add 50% to it. If you get the right deal, it won’t cost that much more and you’ll be able to expand without more construction. (Something we’re dealing with now.)
#2 – Over wire with Cat-6. There are places we thought we’d never need an ethernet port, that we could use 2. When the walls are open, it’s easy and cheap.
#3 – Find 3-4 quotes from contractors, and talk to SEVERAL references for each. Ours ended up being a nightmare to work with, and I wish I’d have listened to people that gave me that advice.
#4 – Lighting is important, but you don’t have to spend $500 on each fixture. We ended up finding real cool ‘industrial’ fixtures that were $75 each, and offered more light. (We think they look real cool too.) Add more switches than you think you need though. It’s easy to turn on light as you need it, but if your options are “too much” or “Not Enough” you’ll wish you had.
