IDEO’s Munich Office
IDEO is one of the world’s leading design agencies and for me the most inspiring company of all time. Reason enough to take a look at how they design their own workspace. I visited their Munich office and found some inspiring features I would like to share with you.
What is it?
IDEO is a global design company with offices in Palo Alto, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Tokyo, London, Cambridge, Shanghai, and Munich. A few years ago, IDEO Munich moved into a new office space, near Rosenheimer Platz.
The open structures of the building are spread over two floors with a partly surrounding gallery.
Why do I like it?
The open plan makes the space very light but does not feel like a factory hall. From every point in the building, you have nice views into other areas and vistas across floors. You can make eye-contact with people at the other end of the building, but there are also niches and closed offices if you need privacy.
Little details express the overall company culture and the personality of the people working there. For example, the many picture frames at the staircase resemble some sort of “Ancestral Gallery”. Small, wall-mounted tables in the hallways invite for casual coffee chats. And the cozy reading corner with lots of inspiring books on design methods demonstrates the company’s strong research focus.
The entire space feels calm but not boring. There are no bright colors or garish decorations, which, in my opinion, allows the creative mind to concentrate on the important things… to come up with ideas.
Conclusion
The office space can provide an inspiring, yet calm atmosphere and thus leave enough room for your own ideas.
I am collecting examples of such creatively designed workspaces.
Do you have a cool, creative office space and want to be featured in my next post?
Submit 3–5 high-quality images of your workspace along with a confirmation of usage rights and photography credits (if applicable) to featured@betterinnovationspace.com and maybe see your own creative office here next week.
