Where did the inspiration for your office space design come from?

●      Nik Thierry, a freelance web designer, moved over from London in 2009, and his intention was to rent a single desk downtown. It was a surprise to find that there were no options for renting a single, inexpensive deskspace. At the same time, his friend Jeff Gibson, a graphic designer, was working from home and enduring the distractions and/or endless work days that comes along with it.

●      Additionally, after discussing the isolation of home offices and the expense of downtown options (which can be just as lonely unless the space is open-plan) they teamed up with their mutual buddy Quinton Rafuse, a petroleum geologist. Quinton’s business sense and strong community ethics brought the project together. He loved the concept so much he moved into the space as well – proving that it’s not just designers who can benefit from coworking.

What is your favorite part/design of your office space and why? i.e. the arched window in the front office, etc.

●      The space itself feels more like a gallery than a traditional office space.

●      The building is a hundred years old so it has a huge brick wall, concrete floors, giant skylights and 15 ft ceilings which add a lot of visual interest to a relatively small space.

●      We also have a massive garage door which we open during the spring and summer to let the outside in!

●      The open-plan set up on one side lets individuals make a desk their own, while the other side of the office has more structured areas allowing small teams to work together.

●      The Ramsay/Inglewood location means that downtown is only a 5 minute drive away, as well as offering many shopping/food amenities and two river pathway systems within a 5 minute walk.

●      Parking is free! This is almost unheard of in one of North America’s most expensive cities to park in.

Do you feel that having a well designed and inspiring office has changed the way your “co-workers” work?

●      One of the best things about the space is that it’s flexible — clients have a variety of spaces to choose from — from large, open plan to smaller more intimate spaces. This allows us to offer space for a variety of work-styles.

●      The open-plan helps create a sense of community and collective propriety of the space.

●      It also allows for cross-pollination of different industries working together: the Oil & Gas start-up uses the graphic designers to create their brand, the interior designer consults for the structural engineer etc.

Tell us about your company and what it means to you to have a well-designed office space.

●      Well-designed for us meant good bones, with the opportunity to be flexible.

●      It’s an incubator for creativity – we know that it grows everyone’s business.

●      People can avoid the noisy coffee shop, find their way out of their home office or even create a new office here to bypass a busy downtown commute and expensive parking.

●      An open-plan space can boost your network instantaneously.

●      It’s not a cubicle farm — it’s a professional and creative environment.

●      Makes being “the boss of you” even more rewarding by working in inspiring surroundings.

Learn more about CoWork YYC here

By the way, If you have a stylish, modern or innovative office  you want to feature on TheOfficeStylist, or you need help transforming your space, please email us at hi@theofficestylist.com. Located in LA? We’d love to stop by and take photos of your space and profile your business. Love this Office Profile? Take a look at the other Office Profiles we have on TheOfficeStylist.

Sayeh

The Office Stylist

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