Officespotter

„Where can I send my resumé?” – I was planning to address this as my goodbye to Judit Parádi, Communications Manager at Ringier, after having been shown around their office. Although I’m not currently looking for a job, I think I would endure the most annoying boss just to work in this office.

There are offices out there, where just walking through the spaces you can’t help but smile. That are constructed in a way so you can see even the most minute details are well thought out. Whoever planned this wanted you to feel good from the moment you set foot in your workplace right up until you leave. Where they realized the office fitout – especially if they could settle for a longer period of time – is much more important for employees than the incidental pay raise.

When I first set foot in the door, my initial thought was all we have to do is take photos, post them here, and let them speak for themselves. Then, as Judit took us around and enthusiatically explained the way they chose and decorated the space, I decided to include explanations to the pictures. It would be a shame to omit the way even the tiniest of details possesses a deliberate concept.

Let’s start at the beginning, from the outside inwards. As is well known, there is a project called Corvin Sétány, which has set as their goal nothing less than the full rehabilitation of this portion of the 8th district. Everyone can decide for themselves the level of success this has had so far, nonetheless it is undeniable that some companies have gotten on board and have signed long term lease agreements in the office buildings. Ringier, after years of searching for the right space, finally decided to choose this location.

From this point on, Ringier looked at leasing office space in a totally different way than other companies. They put together a project team, whose task was to create the new office space. Interestingly, the team consisted of high-ranking people: Supply manager, head of IT, director of HR, director of communications, director of finance and management’s assistant were among those put in charge. They were charged with the task of working closely together with Mádi Studio in figuring out the concept and going into intricate detail where needed.

One of the most obvious things during our visit was that, as opposed to many other offices, you could tell they plan on staying for the long term. As we walked along the hallways, Judit kept telling us more and more about how much attention they paid in choosing the details.

Bearing in mind the relative lack of space here, from here on I will try using labels to pass along what I saw and heard:

Trees: prominent throughout the entire office there is an eloquent tree and forest theme. The characteristically angular trees appear on walls as embossments or just simply paintings, but in some places they function as partitioning devices as well.

Colors: On each floor the typical Ringier colors of pink-blue-yellow – the base colors of any printing press – can be traced appearing in everything from carpeting to walls to glass surfaces. Naturally, there are neutral colors as well, such as grey, black and white.

Quotes: We saw them just about everywhere we went. The sentences were gathered from a myriad of different sources, and were chosen by the employees occupying that certain space. Each and every quotation and dominant color was chosen by the division working in that area.

Furniture: Since the furniture requirements of a company this size are enormous, the company asked the competing interior designers to exhibit their various products in a large space designated specially for this purpose, following which they called in each and every employee to try them out. After having sampled the various chairs and other pieces of furniture, the employees gave them all points based on their taste and comfort. The scores were uploaded onto the company’s in-house communications website, myringier.com, and naturally the designer awarded the highest points provided the furniture.

Elevator areas: As each floor has its own department(s) working there, stepping out of the elevator on different levels gives sight to unique wall decorations and pictures. We encourage you to pair up the pictures with the following department titles: Blikk, Nemzeti Sport (National Sports), Magazines, Back-Office. By now, it goes without saying that the pictures and looks were chosen wholly by the employees of the related department.

Meeting room names: Inasmuch as the office building is located behind the Corvin Movie Theater, what could be more ideal than naming your meeting rooms with film titles? This is why the meeting room names at Ringier are the following: Sose halunk meg, Presszó, Puskás, 6:3, Falfúró, Nyócker, Portugál, A tanú, Szerencsés Dániel, Szindbád, Mephistó and Üvegtigris. The last one, meaning literally ’glass tiger’, is the name of management’s fully glass-walled meeting room on the top floor.

Just to prove what I meant when saying meticulous planning was involved: next to the reception area on the ground floor there are three small cabinets – in the Ringier color scheme – for food deliveries via couriers. Small-scale attentiveness aesthetically carried out.

One can see that mainly males work in the Nemzeti Sport section. This is where style is mostly a background element, and practicality and simplicity are dominant. Of course they have their own unique design elements: soccer ball shapes bean-bag chairs and a table-hockey game.

Despite all of the above, let there be no mistake: this too is a workplace. Obviously the publishing business comes with no shortage of stress, but it is definitely important where one is when under stress. It really does make a difference whether stepping out of an elevator you are greeted by a grey wall or a multitude of photographers on a red carpet.

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