Gyár

Tenant: Gyár post-production studio
Tenant profile: media
Office building: Goldberger-factory
Number of employees: ~25
Size: ~1200 m2
Interior design: Norbert Bier, Dániel Gazsy and Gergő Gazsy 

After having visited Gyár (which means, literally: factory), we decided we will be create a best-of-officespotting list, as there are a few offices that surpass anything we’ve seen, both in their mood and aesthetics. This unusual location is the one-time Goldberger Textile Factory in Óbuda (III. district). This is another building where nobody would expect there to be offices. 

We cannot give an account of Gyár and be too superlative. Yes, yes, often have we defined the places we visit like this, and this is the first time we regret that we’ve used so much verbal ammunition in the past. The pictures simply cannot fully express the mood of the place.

Aloha Informatika

Tenant: Aloha Informatika

Tenant profile: IT development

Office building: Office Garden I.

Interior design: Beáta Ladányi

Size: ~400 m2 office + ~ 500 m2 terrace

Number of employees: 50

Sometimes we think about just how priveleged a position we’re in. We visit all kinds of offices, where for a few hours we can become a part of the atmosphere, and we have a chat with the managers of the company. It seems everyone enjoys it when we visit, they are happy to show us the where their company lives, and share a bit of its background. Every company we visit has something to be proud of, and this is no different at Aloha Informatika.

At Aloha Informatika, there is an obvious family atmosphere. Even the fitout and arrangement of the

office is built as though by family coordination. A good example of this is that, Beáta Ladányi chief financial officer at the company, has a passion for interior design, thus there was no question as to who will be planning the design of the office.

kirowski

Tenant: Kirowski Zrt.

Office building: REsidence

Tenant’s profile: communication agency (digital approach)

Size: ~1600 m2 (kirowski + Aegis)

Number of employees: well over 100 (kirowski + Aegis)

The Hungarian success story, after 10 years, finally saw fit to move their offices from their previous location on Károly körút to look for something with a bit more space, where they could move under one roof with their mother company. Finally, they moved to the SingSing REsidence office building in Víziváros, with the move completed during this past summer.

The story of kirowski – as told by Balázs Tompa, one of the creative managers there who was also one of the founders – began in 96 with 4 architects getting together and undertaking various graphic design works. The switch to internet based works came in 98, and as Balázs told us growth was constant. Representative of their expansion rate, currently there are over 80 employees in the company, and since 2005 the company belongs to the global digital marketing agency network under Aegis Media, namely Isobar.

As the interior height of the building is relatively low – and as we know good creative work needs a large amount of space – thus the company told the owner before fitout began that they wouldn’t be needing the usual lowered ceilings. With this, they brought a bit of industrial character to the otherwise modern office building. Above the ceiling lights white rectangles were painted to reflect the light downwards, as computer dispersed light is more comfortable for working on computers. The lighting plays an important role, as there are many areas which are only dimly lit, which although is ideal for working in front of a computer, can be depressing in the long term.

The walls were created by the Pimp-my-wall team, and one of the founders of kirowski, Csaba Kelemen, was responsible for the designs. The drawings mostly bring a funky feeling to the office; we saw no real connection to the company or its history in them. We have to admit though, that wall decorations of this kind are probably the most efficient way to spruce up an otherwise average office.

Despite the colorful walls, the place is pervaded by rigid professionalism. As can be expected from an online agency, just about everyone we saw was under 40, and the average age was definitely under 30. Corresponding to this, great momentum surrounded us. As could be seen on the young team’s work pace, the online profession dictates quite the tempo, and we could feel the tension in the air.

Just about everyone in the office works in an open-space layout, although the different divisions are well separated from each other. The kitchen functions splendidly as a common area, where thanks to a large balcony smokers don’t have to leave the office area. Also here, you can find a fussball table and a semi-separated rest area. A great aspect of this entire area is that it is very well detached from the rest of the office. This is probably how employees are encouraged to visit common areas only for lunch and a good rest now and then, instead of constantly breaking away for a quick chat.

The company wisely thought of the future and possible expansion, as there is plenty of room in the building next to the for further office space, in case they hire a large influx of new employees. We can safely say that kirowski chose the ideal location for their computer-based workforce, in a quiet environment, with a well partitioned common area, where the sunlight won’t bother anyone too much. 

Additional photos:

White Rabbit

Tenant: White Rabbit

Tenant’s profile: Advertising agency

Office Building: Madách Trade Center

Size: 300 m2

Number of employees: 17

During our visit to see White Rabbit, our first surprise came when we entered the elevator. At the reception area, we saw that the company occupies floors 11-12., but in the elevator the floors were only numbered till the 10th. Thus began our chase of the illusive white rabbit in the sky, in the office building by Madách tér. Two right turns, end of the long hall, a glass door opens onto nothing. We step out the door.

Just before stepping into White Rabbit’s office, one finds oneself on top of the city, with no roof or window to disturb the view. There is no shortage of adventure when going to visit the white rabbit in his lair, and each adventure only heightens our curiousity. An office, here?

I’m not sure if the storylike words above give any hint, but by entering the building are in an extension of the office building below, in a 15 meter diameter round shaped tower. Windows in every direction. The only tenant here is White Rabbit.

As we step in, the managing director immediately jumps up from a meeting with his colleagues to greet us, and readily invites us in. I believe we have arrived in Wonderland. All around are colorfully painted walls, an abundance of rabbits, storybooks, black-and-white sofas. Above us, another level and a dome. Everything fits together wonderfully.

White Rabbit was established in 2006 by 4 advertising professionals, who have been running the company ever since. The company is a full service advertising company, which means they do most everything in-house. It was two years ago that they moved out of their original office, in a flat, and found this fantastic space. As Levente Bálint says, they are quite proud of their office, and endeavor to enchant as many clients with it as possible. 

To give you an idea of what happens when we visit an office: usually we are first shown around, so we will know what to expect, then we are allowed to roam freely through the areas, to photograph whatever we feel you should see. Meanwhile, we have the opportunity to observe the employees working in the office around us. What made this advertising agency exceptional, is that all throughout the time we were there, the air was simply buzzing; with brainstorming sessions and the constant hum of creators in action. No one was buried deep in their computer, or was doing things in a mediocre tempo, as is often the case. The pace is rapid this version of Wonderland.

The distribution of the three floors is as follows: art directors, writers and creatives sit on the top, managers and owners on the middle level, and client relationship managers and graphic designers on the lower level. All told, l7 people work in the 300 square meter office. The bottom floor was a recent addition to the space, and is somewhat more secluded than the other two. 

During our visit, the weather was overcast, but it’s not hard to imagine the office during sparkling sunshine, when working on your computer is near impossible. Perhaps the air conditioners are up to the task, but the shades probably are in a much tougher situation. Hence, even in such a beautiful 360 degree panorama office space a dilemma arises: you won’t be able to see much if you have to close the drapes to be able to work.

As can be seen in the introduction, the company’s name, it’s profile and the office all suite each other perfectly. Thankfully for them, they lease enough space for expansion, nonetheless I won’t envy White Rabbit if in the future, due to the number of employees, they have to leave this place.

További képek:

Digital Natives

Tenant: Digital Natives
Tenant profile: IT Development
Building: Daróci út 4. Storage-Office environment
Size: ~300 m2
Number of employees: ~20

The great advantage of writing a blog like this is that going from company to company we constantly get tips for which office to visit next. This is how we heard of Digital Natives. We didn’t wait around, after contacting them we went to visit the company at their Daróci út location right away.

The company, which deals with internet based and other IT development, found the office space in 2006, left behind by a design company. Thus the main design elements are thanks to the previous tenant, but it was good to see as these "digital natives" scattered their toys all around the office.

At the reception, we are greeted by Kristóf Bárdos, business development manager, as well as a broad tree. Kristóf immediately lets us wander around to photograph freely. As the emphasis is now on taking pictures, we suppress the urge to play a game of billiards, darts or any of the other games found in the office. The temptation is strong.

As we usually do, we sat down for a chat with Kristóf, and we asked him to tell us about everyday life in the office. He told us about the company’s past, their projects, but we found the most interesting to be their work ethic. Digital Natives has been working for 2 years now with a so-called agile development, or SCRUM methodology. In the traditional approach, a development project works in a way where the customer gives his needs, and a finished product is then developed and delivered to him. During agile development, 2-4 week intervals are agreed upon, when the customer is presented the status of the project, which can then be modified due to seeing it live as well as changing requirements.The result is a much more customer-based approach, and the end product will probably be much better suitable to market standards.

The company’s flagship project is Mindroom, which incorporates state-of-the-art digital sound recognition software. In the entire off – which is shared with a company called Mimoza Communications – about 20 people work in an area of approximately 300 m2. Interestingly, it’s not the work space which is spacious, but the common areas.

Another interesting thing about Digital Natives is that, taking example from Google, employees are ensured time within their regular work hours for self training. The project does differ from the 20% model, as employees here are given not one day a week, but one day a month, and they are expected more to train themselves than work on their own private projects, of which they report to the rest of the team.

Everyone was very laid back and friendly at the company. A good example was during our discussion with Kristóf, when a colleague sat down to join us, as he was curious about our story. We think that despite the industrial feel to the office space, perhaps friendly is the best word to describe what we saw. We liked it.

 Thanks to Kristóf’s knowledge, we received yet another tip for spotting. For now, all we can say about the next office space is that it is quite high up, and that we are grateful for the tip. Learn more next week, here on the blog.

Additional photos:

Grey Group

Tenant: Grey Group

Tenant profile: Advertising agency

Office building: Andrássy Palace

Size: ~1000 m2

Number of employees: ~75

Interior designer: MádiLáncos Studio

The Grey advertising agency found the best located, most unique loft type office in Budapest. The space, located on the top two floors of Erick van Egeraat redesigned Andrássy Palace, is unparalelled in the city, and is definately much better suited for an advertising agency than its previous function as a restaurant.

We have visited the building previously for an earlier post when visiting Log Me In, and we promised then to make sure to take a look at the office with the whale meeting room. The glass roofed, high-interior office is truly a rare gem in Budapest.

Grey’s activities span all areas of communications solutions, including classic advertising, PR and digital media. These divisions are relatively secluded from one another, but since the spaces are composed in a highly intelligent way, when approaching a different division one doesn’t feel the seperation too strongly.

The space leaning over the 5 story atrium is where management sits, and from here they have a good view on just about all the workspaces in the roughly 1000 m2 office. Grey was lucky with this office, as the existing materials were already mostly grey colored, interior designer MádiLáncos Studio merely had to brighten up the place with some red coloring, to fit the company’s image.

We were shown around by Nóra Kósa, PR manager. Nóra was quite laid back, she allowed us to roam freely through the office and observe every detail, after which she told us about their move in 2008, and what it meant to move from a villa style building in a green area into the hear of downtown. When asked whether the employees like working in this location, the answer was that by now, everyone’s gotten used to it and likes it, but the location and lack of openable windows took some getting used to. 

We certainly can’t leave out mentioning the whale meeting room. I believe the architect’s goal was to emulate a whale landing in the water following a leap. In the whale’s stomach, instead of Jonah, there are two meeting rooms above each other. The bottom one is more of a secluded area, while the top one is a very representative place, with views onto the entire city.

We saw little if any bad solutions in this office. It was apparent that the lack of drapery in most of the areas could make working on computers somewhat difficult. The absence of the adequate amount of fresh air is a good example of why office buildings are no longer created without windows that can open, like in the 90s. Despite this, Grey’s office is definately of the likeable kind – it has all the spaces, colors and lighting (as well as the practically mandatory fussball table) needed for an exceptionally pleasant office.

Additional photos: