Office space of Google in Athens

Upon arriving at the offices one immediately realises that this was achieved. You enter an industrial space with exposed ceilings, mechanical ducts, suspended lights and cement floors. You are not welcomed by a receptionist behind a desk, but by a member of the Google Team in a “Play Area” with a billiards table and a central ping pong table which has initiated team games amongst the users, with spectators watching from the stepped seating opposite created from stacked timber pallets. An OSB clad wall is covered in timber frames with family photos added by the users. This wall then wraps around the reception area and envelops the meeting rooms behind. Following this wall, you are led into the meeting room corridor which is lit by industrial light fittings usually suspended off a hook on site, but here are fitted off the wall. Natural lighting and services directed the design layout of the space, resulting in the varying sized meeting rooms and a larger “gathering” room which opens to the communal microkitchen via large double doors for events and parties, located at the back of the offices where direct sunlight is filtered by the neighbouring buildings. The combination of industrial and local feel is evident in these rooms with the exposed soffit and industrial lights fitted on the wall alongside large graphics of old Greek film posters. Artificial lighting in the office is achieved by strip lights throughout, enhanced by custom made “cage” lights painted in Google’s 4 primary colours. To reduce sound reverberation in all the meeting rooms, acoustic baffles are suspended off the exposed ceilings and carpet floor tiles are placed in a ‘mosaic’ pattern. The industrial feeling of the space is most evident in the open plan space which seats 24 personnel and the single glazed manager’s office. Various casual seating areas allowing users to work privately or in groups along with varying work surfaces such as magnetic walls and blackboards for presentations were carefully designed throughout the space to ensure a full working environment. The open plan space is broken up with low level seating behind semi-private flexible paper walls, which can be moved to accommodate the number of people working together, and higher bar stool seating provided for hot desking in the “Touchdown” area, on a table which marries up as a games table. A writeable wall separates this from a print copy area with industrial plastic boxes for storage of stationary and pamphlets as well as a blackboard wall behind which a massage chair is located. Greek kiosks have been designed to provide quiet phone booths, off which newspapers hang. Lastly, the café area has been designed as a traditional Greek family gathering space, providing a large dining table and casual seating. The local and ‘domestic industrial’ feel once again is achieved here with the exposed ductwork and soffit having been designed alongside traditional Greek cement floors and handmade floor tiles. The games concept has also been implemented here, as users are free to grab a console and play whilst lounging on the bean bags.