Odd Offices: 13 Wacky Outside-the-Box Workspace Designs

Pub-Inspired AirBNB Offices
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Modeled on an Irish pub, the AirBNB offices in Dublin feature a reception area that looks like a bar. Too bad you can’t actually expect a pint when you take a seat there. Local architects Heneghan Peng even outfitted the space with pub-style furniture and a pair of traditional Irish telephone boxes that function as booths for private phone calls.

Submarine-Inspired Meeting Rooms
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Continuing the modern tradition of creating semi-private yet not entirely closed-off meeting spaces, Russian studio Za Bor Architects outfits the new Moscow office for internet company Yandex with brightly-colored pods resembling submarines. The pods have transparent panels resembling oversized portholes that help the space maintain a visual connection to the rest of the office.

Bird’s Nest Meeting Room
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A giant bird’s nest made of woven timber provides a meeting room space at the Baya Park offices in Mumbai. Local firm Planet 3 Studios was asked to create a sales area that functions as a public reception room but also incorporates private meeting spaces. “Baya weaver birds make exquisitely complex nests and the brand name and identity borrow from iconographic imagery that is associated with the birds. Our key idea was to build a sculptural, dynamic, fluid form that evokes the Baya nest in an outscaled way.”

Playful Yandex Offices, Russia
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Walking through yet another Yandex office location by Russian studio Za Bor Architects feels a bit like entering a video game in three dimensional space. The new St. Petersburg offices are inspired by the desktop of a computer, complete with pixellated backgrounds and oversized icons. A massive clock contains a printing station and the reception desk looks like a text box. The firm wanted guests to feel like they’re actually “inside the Yandex search service.”