Victorian office

For many of us, the phrase “office of an IT company” probably evokes a standard image of a room equipped with the latest technology and located in a modern building made of glass and concrete (preferably in the center of a megapolis), symbolizing the triumph of scientific and technical thought, and Also, why be ashamed of showing others the degree of success of the company. There is such a stereotype, but in fact the main condition for high productivity of employees is always the comfort of working conditions in the office, which consists of many components, and placement in the center of the city or the use of certain avant-garde finds in interior design here play not the most important role. As a proof, I want to talk about the American office of our company, Vivaldi Technologies, in which I will work the whole next month.

Gloucester ... And this is where?

Gloucester is a small town 30 minutes north of Boston, located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. And the Magnolia Innovation Center itself, in which our office is located, is literally here , at Norman Ave, 18. Despite its small size, Gloucester has a certain reputation, first of all, as a city with a long tradition of fishing. Look at the monument to the fishermen who died in the photo on the right - it appears on the screen in the first minutes of the film “The Perfect Storm”, which was filmed exactly in Gloucester about those same Gloucester sailors.

The climate here is quite comfortable, because the town is located at the same latitude as, for example, Batumi on the Black Sea coast, or Marseille and Nice in southern France (for those who are more familiar with foreign resorts). True, the cold Labrador Current, descending from the north along the coast of the Americas from Greenland, slightly pushes the warm Gulf Stream aside and does not allow the climate to be too hot here. By the way, the Titanic sank another 1.5 degrees south of Gloucester's latitude, when it collided with an iceberg brought to the Atlantic by the Labrador current. So, in spite of June, the water near the shore is rather cool, although it is quite suitable for swimming - what the local beach seems to hint at.
')

House in the village

The office building itself is located five minutes walk from the beach, but before going inside, let's take a walk around a bit.


This house was built in 1880 and all the outward signs of that distant time were diligently maintained by changing owners for almost a century and a half. Americans in general are very careful about their history and if there is an opportunity to save something for posterity, they do it with great attention. The house, like all neighboring ones, is simply buried in verdure, while almost all the trees around are at least the same age as the building itself, and there are also those that grew here long before that. Naturally, the traditional lawn between the road and the house is also available (there is enough space for badminton and volleyball - and without interfering with each other):


There are also several parking places, just in front of the house ...


... and in the thickets of magnolias around:


If desired, and if the weather permits, you can work in the open air at the site with a small fountain:


The backyard is a very unusual place for a city dweller. Well, the fact that about ten bicycles are stored here for everyone, as well as a very comfortable place for smoke breaks, is quite normal.


As it turned out, two chipmunk clans live under the stones here, carefully watching that a competitor does not enter a foreign territory, and on each tree there lives a family of rather plump squirrels:


Here is such an almost village idyll. I can tell by my feelings: working in such an environment is much easier than in the conditions of a city where something constantly strives to distract you. Well, now let's go into the house and see what the conditions for work are there.

Time Machine

On the ground floor, the largest room is a fully equipped kitchen ...


... and dining:


Also located next to a large room with a fireplace for meetings:


Another fireplace room for less mass discussions:


And a spacious library - of course, also with a fireplace:


For very confidential conversations, you can always find a nook like this, with a comfortable sofa:


Personally, I was very pleased with the presence of the plush piano of the 1930s, when a local Boston master graduated, after all, people were once able to do things that could serve their masters for decades and even centuries:


Next door, occupying all three floors of the southern wing of the building, the working rooms of the staff were located:






But if it’s more usual for someone to work separately from the team, there are single “rooms” throughout the building:


And, of course, it is impossible to ignore the administration of the office - it is precisely their efforts that create all the comfort and convenience:


The main feature of the interior is the style of the beginning of the XX century - you could already notice it from the photos. All modern infrastructure is neatly woven into the atmosphere of the beginning of the last century. Rocking chairs and old life items - on every corner. Here, for example, a vintage heater for irons:


Or an antique radio (I would not be surprised if it still works):


Naturally, similarly decorated and sleeping rooms. Here, modern TV is perched on a dresser, which is much older than it:


And these beds obviously will serve more than one generation of owners as much as they have already served:

As an epilogue

Perhaps it may seem strange to someone to be a combination of antiquity and modernity, but in fact there is a hidden meaning here, I think. Living and working in the environment of things that were made a hundred years ago, and were made so that the ancient masters are still not ashamed of their descendants - unwittingly and you begin to take more seriously what you are doing. It would also be desirable, like the distant unknown hardworking people, to create something of the same good quality and quality so that great-grandchildren would continue to use and remember the warm word. Well, and most to be in old age, what to remember and what to be proud of, sitting on a bench on the beach and looking into the transparent haze of the boundless ocean.



PS In the shop across the road I found the legendary canned foods, which gave the name to modern e-spam. They, it turns out, are still being produced:


Could not resist - bought and tasted. Well, what can I say ... Spam - it is spam. A sort of meat pate with ingredients of suspicious origin. Could not try. It's funny: for the first time in my life I bought real spam for my money - natural, you can not only touch it, but also taste it. :)

PPS Yes, I completely forgot. All other photos posted here , I think that the album will be replenished. If something is new and interesting to tell - I will definitely write on Habré.