Using office design to build a culture of collaboration

Green reception space at Pivotal Software with people at collaborative seating

Woman writing on whiteboard in collaboration space

Staircase connecting two floors of work environment and surrounded by plants

Pivotal Software reception space with casual seating and man reading magazine

Pivotal,
London

Technology companies are looking to design new ways of collaborating in the office. The goal of our workplace design for Pivotal software was to create an environment that supports team working and builds a culture of collaboration.

At Pivotal, every day starts at 09:06 sharp. This is one of the many quirks making the company unique, that helped M Moser’s London team understand Pivotal’s culture and shape their office design and build in The Bower Building, Old Street, London.

Using office design to build a culture of collaboration section

Collaborative culture

At 09:06, the team gathers to briefly discuss the challenges they face or help they may require in the coming day.

This experience permeates Pivotal’s workplace culture, starting with the dual-purpose reception desk and collaboration table. Welcoming people into the social heart of the office space, staff and visitors are quickly emersed in the buzz of team work.

The reception extends into a large dining and social space filled with a variety of office furniture and used throughout the day for meals, social activities and informal meetings.

“When you walk in you see people working, you see people collaborating. Even if this is the first time you’ve walked into a Pivotal space, you can immediately see the buzz of people working together and building great products.”

Robbie Clutton, Director
Pivotal Software

Semi-private project spaces punctuate the open office, allowing team members to get away from their desks to tackle a problem together. Reflecting Pivotal’s open culture, collaboration doesn’t happen behind closed doors.

Creating new ways of working

Pivotal are advocates of co-working, and employees are paired off with clients to work in the same collaborative way they work with each other. Not only does this mean that teams are close to their clients; they are essentially viewed as “partners”.

We considered how to make access to different kinds of spaces equal for everyone. Each project team is supported by informal meeting spaces and team working areas in its vicinity, equipped with its own whiteboards for diagramming and the technology needed to support their specific requirements.

It became clear early in the project process that more flexibility would be required to keep up with Pivotal’s rapid growth across Europe, so plans were made for the densification and future expansion within the space, without compromising the integrity of the design. This would make future changes far easier to project manage.

“We came to think of the project as units of space, that would shift and adapt to our needs as they evolved.”

Robbie Clutton, Director
Pivotal

“The office space feels very much like it has been designed with a purpose, with little touches everywhere that make it pleasurable to use.”

Diego Iaconelli, IT EMEA Lead
Pivotal Labs

Communicating office design in virtual reality

As part of the launch, we built an interactive tour of the workspace. This helped employees understand the upcoming change, and to build excitement about their new working environment.

Visit the interactive panorama