Experience:Offices — Zendesk Brandland

EXPERIENCE

Offices

Our offices are spaces that enable people to meet, work, and host the Zendesk way. To put a very fine point on it, they’re the living embodiment of the Zendesk brand.

Philosophy

An office is a multi-sensory experience for our customers, employees, and guests. They reflect Zendesk messaging and the brand aesthetic in that they’re built to foster better relationships.
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Zendesk offices are much like a small town. There’s a big, central, buzzing public square. There are streets leading to different neighborhoods with their own smaller, quieter meeting spaces.

The first space employees and visitors enter is the public square. Here, people are encouraged to interact and create bonds across lines and organizations. It’s the beating heart of the organization.

The closer to the entrance, the more public the environment is. As you approach work stations, the space becomes more quiet, personal, and private.

Design

Any Zendesk office project should start with the design ingredients outlined in the previous chapter. They’re the baseline for any Zendesk space. Below are examples of how it all comes together in our offices

Dublin

Photography: Donal Murphy

Singapore

Photography: Owen Raggett

San Francisco

Photography: Jason O'Rear

Inviting, we know. Here are some more things we look out for when designing a space:

Create open spaces

Work toward open, bright spaces with as much natural light as possible. High ceilings are encouraged. Try to keep sight lines as long as possible in the space, and choose glass partitions over solid walls. Light wood and honest materials are best—and stay away from cheap imitation products like vinyl and thin veneers.

Go for quality over cheap

Outfitting a workspace is always a battle between budgets and aspirations, but try not to cut corners when looking for the right quality and aesthetic. Taking a little extra time to research options helps find the good stuff—which, as it turns out, is not always the expensive option.

Put the money where it works the hardest

Carefully select the “money spaces”—the parts of the office where it makes the most sense to spend a little more time and money. Aside from the obvious board rooms, prioritize the little things that make a work environment extra special.

Stay away from Corny Island

Tech companies too often go over the top, outfitting offices with ghastly contraptions like water slides, roller skating rinks, and the ever-present Secret Founders Den. The Zendesk approach is to offer our employees an inviting empty canvas where they can express themselves, instead of floating corny plastic garbage over their heads.

Use honest, natural materials

Stay true to Zendesk Scandinavian heritage. Work with honest, raw materials like wood, concrete, brick, moss, leather, and felt. You can offset these with clean, angular lines and good lighting for some contrast. In general, use lighter wood and, when the budget allows, solid wood instead of laminates.

Be professional in execution

The Zendesk Brand Team keeps a high standard in everything we do. This includes our office build-outs and interior detailing. Be professional, and use qualified contractors if you’re working outside your specialty. Spend the time to do things right.

Encourage people to use it

Make sure office spaces are used to the fullest potential. Build cozy nooks, collaborative work tables, and functional war rooms. Design spaces to be used, roughed up a bit, customized, and played in.

Location

The location and the choice of building is a major factor in creating a vibrant Zendesk town. Here is our wish list. Our perfect office building…

Is a building with character. That could be historic elements, or really smart modern architecture
Allows for a street level entrance that leads directly to the Zendesk owned lobby (rather than a shared lobby)
Has opportunities for branding, for example on the building front, the roof, or behind large windows at street level
Provides humane spaces, meaning big enough for teams to grow, but never endless seas of desks
Has plenty of large windows that allow for daylight to flood the space
Includes outdoor spaces like terraces, rooftops or backyards
Is surrounded by nature, be it a park, water, or tree-lined streets