Wellington’s Most Thoughtful “Out of Office” Space
Out Of Office is Wellington’s newest, most thoughtful space for hire, designed to enable quality thinking. Fraser Callaway, Matt Innes, Oliver Ward and Geoff Cranko have reinvented what it means to hire a space for workshops, design sprints, team off-sites, events and everything in between.
We talked to Co-founder, Fraser, about the space, the importance of getting out of the office, and what makes a great off-site space!
Tell us a bit about Out Of Office!
We believe great ideas happen in great environments, that’s why we wanted to offer a better alternative to y our boring old conference room. We set out to create a thoughtful space that would help promote quality thinking and encourage collaboration. You often hear of people hiring windowless rooms that are uninspiring. Instead, we wanted our space to act as a platform for people to get inspired and creative during their workshop, design sprint or team off-site. This is part of the reason why everything you see in our space is on wheels! We intentionally made the space fully customisable and included little details such as office essentials and high-tech equipment, so people could focus on the big ideas. We made sure there was no need to sweat the small things!
How did the idea and space come about?
Running a design agency taught us that teams get better results when they are able to work collaboratively. But this is often easier said than done. We got tired of trying to find collaborative workspaces that aren’t windowless and cramped, where you spend the first hour trying to get the tech to work and where people get distracted by interruptions.
When a space came up, conveniently right next door to our studio, we set out to create a space we would want to use, and we do! But we also knew we weren’t alone in this boat, so we wanted to make it available for others to hire as well. And so, Out Of Office was born.
Why do you think it’s so important to go “Out Of Office”?
We’re all creatures of habit, however, habit is the enemy of creativity and it’s hard for that creativity to shine through when we stare at the same four walls every day. This especially rings true when we’re constantly distracted by emails, Slack messages and phone calls.
We designed Out Of Office to take people out of their comfort zone, in a good way. It’s filled with natural light, it’s spacious and completely private – all to promote focused, quality thinking.
What do you think makes a good Out Of Office space?
For us, a good “Out Of Office” space should be well thought out and considered—from when someone books in, to when they walk out at the end of their session. It’s important to have a memorable end to end customer experience, so we made a conscious decision to offer something that was hassle-free and seamless. This meant we really had to consider the small details about how we could make the whole Out Of Office experience memorable. This is why we have a fully automated booking system, dedicated space manager, the option to choose your layout in advance and make sure everything in the space is set up, ready to rumble!
What is your favourite thing about the space?
Everything within the space is made to move. All the furniture in the space has been custom designed by us so it stacks, moves, or has more than one purpose. This means the space can be used for any event – from a design jam of 8 people through to a speaker event with 50 people – and it still feels like it’s purpose-built.
What’s next for Out Of Office?
We want to become the most sought-after space for hire in New Zealand. We want the experience of the space to change the perception of workshops. When people hear that their workshop is going to be hosted in an Out Of Office space, we want them to be excited and ready to think!
You can check out the space here and book your next workshop with Out Of Office: www.outofoffice.co.nz
