New office Synesis: how we created the space for the birth of ideas

Hello!
More recently, Synesis has moved its full staff to a new location. Organizing work space for hundreds of people is not an easy task. About how we have realized the dreams of an ideal office, see and read in the article.

The name Synesis stands proudly on the facade. In addition to the balsamic effect for the soul and self-love, the inscription works as an excellent guideline: customers, partners and pizza easily find us among several office buildings.

The most difficult question in the organization of space, whether to make open space or split up into offices. On the one hand, many are annoyed by the Brownian movement, for example, at tea and on smoke breaks. On the other hand, “not all IT professionals are equally sociable”: when broken down into offices, you can work for months and not know the names of colleagues. In addition, it is known that isolation does not contribute to the working mood in any way - the team is, nonetheless, more fun.

However, it is the open space that solves several important problems:
1. fresh air. Air circulation in a large room is much easier than in small rooms;
2. the width of the building. If the building is wide, a good solution for cabinets simply cannot be found: you will be doomed to passable rooms and long corridors;
3. aesthetics. More space - more room for ideas =).
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On the plan, everything looks like this (the piano exists only in the dreams of an employee who was engaged in seating):



The seating arrangement is still a puzzle, but we solved it by placing employees around the perimeter. This is the best option that we are ready to advise everyone and everyone, and here's why:

• with the same density of "settlement" we get more internal space and really a lot of free space;
• it is very convenient to get together for discussions in small groups: no one interferes with anyone, squeezes behind his back and does not distract from work;
• You can move around the room even on a chair, even on a skateboard. Again, it is convenient to roll up to a colleague with a question.

Open space at the same time zoned, places for seating chose themselves, grouped by teams. In real life there was more than enough space.





Only the meeting rooms are closed - there are six of them on each of the three floors, and each is called a planet, a city or a letter of the Greek alphabet. After all, saying “Let's meet on Mars” is much more fun than “In the second meeting room”.

Wood and stone

On each floor there is a room, the walls of which are made of cut bars. The wood was ordered in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (it took about six months to dry and process it): it is patriotic, and it looks great, and it smells nice.



We have chairs from the past (even before last) office - Herman Miller. They cost dearly - about 700 euros, but in practice they pay off: they have a 10-year guarantee, they don’t break from the word “absolutely” (the full life of an ordinary office chair sometimes does not exceed a year), and the back does not hurt.
The walls in the office are decorated with hand-molded decorative clay bricks made in Holland. It is noteworthy that for each of them, both inside and outside were used different masonry and type of brick.

Light and air

As for the design solution for the room, the Loft and the steampunk lighting with ventilation seem to be more or less native: they remind someone of the designer reincarnation of a computer club, and someone like their favorite pub.



The ceiling we turned industrial, ventilation pipes left open. Total left 130 meters of ventilation pipe on each floor. There really should be a lot of space in the office, so the idea of ​​stitching the ceiling in drywall was not even considered. The supply and exhaust ventilation system works with a bang - there is no need to open the window at all, and therefore there are no permanent problems with “Sasha is hot, Dasha is blowing” and “window vs condo”.



Industrial is industrial, but all the wires are hidden in copper pipes installed vertically next to each workplace.



The premises for server rooms (again, on each floor one by one) were originally planned, so there was a lot of power supply, special cooling and ventilation, as well as a strategic place for growth.

The floor in the office is self-leveling polished concrete - also the motifs of industrial style. The surface is absolutely flat - it is a pleasure to ride a chair. Stylists for added decorative hatches, for example, such here (do not interfere with the ride):

Plants

In our old office there were no living plants at all. Although, no: there was one flower, and we even somehow attached plums to it with scotch tape, longing for the natural component in the room. Now there is no such problem for sure, because it is the vines wrapping around the wooden lattices that the room is zoned.



There are a total of 52 flowers on each floor, and florists regularly attend the office, including at night, caring for them. They promise that four-meter vines will grow to a minimum of 16 meters and completely hide the grids. There will be no problems with growth light: special lamps are installed above each flower.

With the same motifs on each floor, the lattice with a thousand forged leaf vines is additionally zoned.

Kitchen

There is full ammunition: refrigerators, dishwashers, stove, microwave, waffle iron, oven, coffee makers. Those who do not order home lunches at the office (and we have organized their delivery) can cook their own steak, even French meat. Fridays bring pizza. Officially, this is called “Happy hours”, but employees say “Happy seconds” - this is closer to the truth, so quickly snapped up =)
The cooler, as is often the case, is supplemented with the refinements of “health” and “mana” for hot and cold water, respectively. Collectively decided that hot chocolate adds stamina, and coffee - cheerfulness.

Everything for people

We moved only a couple of months ago, so we didn’t settle down completely, but the process is in full swing.



Schindler elevators, Swiss-made and, it seems, Lithuanian assembly.



In the office there are also shower rooms: in both women’s and men's toilets. They are even equipped with several backlight options - to heighten comfort and relaxation.



And from the useful amenities we have a massage chair and a multifunctional shoe polisher.



In the office, all conditions are not only for work (smart wi-fi, ip-telephony, etc.), but also for life (they also promise to hang a hammock). Work schedule - 40 hours per week. Theoretically, you can plow for three days and then rest, but in practice by 11 almost everything is in place, and after 10 pm the office is empty. Firstly, it is really more productive, and, secondly, the office is located almost in the center of Minsk, to get here easily and quickly.

In general, we feel at home: