We recently moved to a new design studio and have been having a lot of fun creating a new environment. It's not something you get to do very often, so it's pretty exciting. What's an ideal workshop environment? What's you're ideal office environment? I'm sure everyone would have different answers to those questions. Here are some of the ideas we had.

The office

Even though a lot of what we do is hands on creation, a lot of the time we're on desks working on computers like everyone else. As an engineer I always sat in a cushy cubilcle chair at a desk which didn't turn out to be so good for my back so i wanted to create a working environment that's great for posture. Using computers is one of those things you do for long periods of time so, in this environment, we've tried to make a space where you can move around through-out the day and practice different postures. This results in more blood circulation in the body and brain as well as gives the body a chance to work different muscles and avoid repetitive strain injury.

In our new office, you can sit, stand, squat, or lounge while you work. We built a bunch of desks for each person to have their own stand up desk that can also be used for stool sitting. In addition, are 3 other heights of desk that can be used around the space.

Squatting Desks & Lotus Laptoping

Our bodies are meant to squat, but it's not something we really do any more since inventing the toilet and the chair. When you don't stretch your hips, they get tight and can result in a lot of back pain. Cushy chairs also push your hips together which is the opposite of stretching. To combat this, we've included an area of the space where you can sit in a lotus position or squat. I've been doing this for a couple of years now. At first i could only do it 10 minutes max before falling over, but, over time, my hips have been opening up and I can now cross legged for extended periods of time. I highly recommend it. Earlier in the year I developed a portable squatting desk to carry on my bike and allow me to work in parks. 

Kitchens are Key

Obviously food is important to doing good work. Getting out of your space is great during your lunch breaks, but I always like to cook my own food fresh so having an industrial kitchen was the obvious choice. We didn't have a huge budget for creating a kitchen so we where happy to learn that restaurant grade kitchen stuff is pretty affordable used. 

CoWorking

It's a lot more fun to work with other people so we've built the space large enough to accommodate 6-10 other people. Working around inspiring people is just inspiring! If you know of anyone who might want to join us, put us in touch!