Brigada has designed the new office of video game developer Nanobit, located in Zagreb, Croatia. After achieving success in the international marketplace and growing their workforce, the promising Croatian game development company Nanobit has moved into new offices – on two floors and with a total of 1633 square meters! While developments in technology and the video game industry are bringing our day-to-day lives closer to the future, all real gamers have an appreciation for the past and the very beginnings of video games. Brigada developed the concept of this company’s office space accordingly, led by the early days of the industry’s development and classic games like Pong, Tetris, Donkey Kong, Super Mario, Minesweeper, Snake, Connect Four, and PAC-MAN. The concept was named “A Dedication to the 10th Art.”

“The greatest challenge we faced when creating a contemporary and dynamic office space was in the limitations of the existing building, which is characterized by low, suspended ceilings, raised flooring, and a large service core in the center of the building. Unfortunately, the majority of commercial buildings in Zagreb were built for an entirely different, perhaps outdated, type of workspace organization where traditional offices and meeting rooms are a given, and which is in opposition to the Activity-based workspace philosophy,” explains Brigada’s spatial strategist Ivana Validžić.

“Following Brigada’s recommendation, when designing the office we paid particular attention not only to work but also to socialization, relaxation, and fun. With a different design for individual zones, a different application and use was defined for each one, and the result is that employees have the feeling they are in an entirely different space, which makes it possible for them to really tune out and relax. The game rooms are a place where employees can step away from their everyday obligations at work, and the games they can play both boost creativity and encourage teamwork. More active games, like ping-pong, raise energy levels and increase concentration. We work on increasing productivity and engagement through the activities we organize for our employees or, even better, those they organize themselves.

This type of relationship leads to employees who are responsible for the results Nanobit is continually achieving,” points out Ana Spasojević, Head of Human Resources at Nanobit. The workspace is organized into larger offices which function as separate open space areas combined with with smaller offices, depending on how individual teams work. Shared zones such the kitchen, socialization and game rooms, a Skype room, and a phone room are connected to the central core and are each thematically designed, where the themes are linked, with the zones’ shapes and color schemes, to a particular game from the past. It is clear to the user what game is being called to mind without the use of any additional decorations, and with functionality always taking precedence.

The characteristics of the yellow and blue console rooms, with their monochrome design and good acoustics, make them ideal for testing and playing videogames. The open spaces called PAC-MAN and Tetris Square serve the employees well for in-house training, presentations, socialization, and board games. Their modular furniture elements are easy to move around and rearrange in the space as wanted or needed.

The Meet the Team installation in the meeting room is an interactive game for becoming familiar with Nanobit’s employees and is based on the principles of the game Connect Four. The yellow and blue circles in the Nanobit brands colors with the faces of the company’s employees make it possible for employees to put together teams through a game, and in doing so to get to know their new colleagues.

Design: Brigada
Photography: Relja Ivanic

https://officesnapshots.com/2017/03/03/nanobit-offices-zagreb/