Airbnb has raised a lot of money in venture capital. $326 million to be exact. And with that, they decided to pimp out their offices to quite some extent.
Founded in 2008, Airbnb is an online service, kind of like a social network, that provides a platform for people to rent unoccupied living space and other lodging. The spaces and lodging available for rent are generally targeted at people wanting to rent a venue or space for a private party.
Now, instead of following suit from other tech startups and g for the ever popular open-plan workspace, Airbnb drew some inspiration from pop culture.
The company decided to build a conference room for their software developers that is modeled after the iconic War Room in the Stanley Kubrick directed cult-classic, Dr. Strangelove.
A dark room with dim lighting and a spectacular round table makes up the scene at Airbnb HQ. The conference/war room is so prolific in it‘s own right, that it even has it‘s own Foursquare listing.
However, paying homage to the 1964 black-comedy (and the Cold War for that matter) wasn‘t the only thing that Airbnb did with their new office space.
The rest of the office – which is situated in San Francisco – features many “˜themed‘ rooms that are inspired, or modeled after something significant to the business.
One of the rooms is a “˜Milanese‘ one-bedroom room that features spot-on lavender toile wallpaper along with a flatscreen TV and a very large dining table that seats eight people.
You will also come across something that is close to the heart of Airbnb‘s founders in the new office. A to-the-tee replica of the living room of the founders‘ original apartment can be found in the office, too. The recreation is so specific that it even includes their lucky red velvet Jesus statue. Weird, but we guess wonderful?
The original War Room as seen in ‘Dr. Strangelove’ (1964) –
The offices were designed by global designing firm, Grensler, who is also responsible for Facebook‘s offices.
Lisa Bottom, a principal designer at the firm, says their job is to enable the company‘s culture within the design:
“There were times when we were challenged as architects to push the limits more than other clients would ask us to…[sic] But our job was to be an enabler of their company’s culture.”
Many offices, especially in the tech industry, are very focused on creating a fun, creative working environment for their employees. The fact that most of these offices like to lean towards quirky and sometimes eyebrow-raising designs, might just be a testament to the creative minds behind the business.
If a conference room inspired by a satirical black comedy is what gets you going, then good on you. At least you know office banter will never get boring.
Source: Valleywag
