The new office for Mogo draws inspiration from classic mid-century office design. A clean lined, modernist aesthetic, recently popularized by the show Mad Men, was the ideal way to tie in the design of this new office into the building architecture. Warm wood textures interspersed with pops of colour and an array of classic mid-century furniture pieces all work together to make this office both professional and playful.
For Mogo, a youthful financial brand with a prominent online component, the new office was an opportunity for the company’s Vancouver team to be housed under the one roof. Rapid growth had caused the company to grow organically across a number of smaller office spaces. Mogo decided to use the consolidation of their team as a chance to move towards a more open plan style of working, however the planning strategy is a more user-friendly take on the open plan office.
The most positive elements of the open office are retained: encouraging collaboration, floorplan efficiency and a visual openness (allowing all staff access to the spectacular views from the 21st floor). While careful consideration has been made to create a workspace that doesn’t suffer from the distractions of a more typical open plan scenario.
Glazed partitions divide the floor into four work zones and separate the workspace from the corridors and meeting rooms. Two person booths provide a quiet place for a phone call or one on one meeting, while multiple small meeting rooms line the core giving staff easy access to enclosed spaces for concentrated work or noisy collaboration. These small meeting rooms house a variety of furniture options from counter height tables and stools to low height tables and lounge chairs. Clusters of lounge furniture are dotted throughout the workspaces to support informal meetings. The breakout kitchen and lounge is positioned to the North of the floor to take in the views of the North Shore mountains. The kitchen, complete with a built-in beer tap, houses a large custom-made communal table, enabling large group gatherings.
The Mogo team consists of a diverse range of staff from varying backgrounds, from finance, to technology to design. As such their office space needed to provide locations and settings for a variety of different work styles. The emphasis of the new office is to offer an array of flexible work settings and collaboration spaces, empowering staff to choose how and where they wish to meet and work.
