Indeed's New Austin Office Exudes Energy and Excitement
The architectural design at Indeed's new corporate office in Austin, Texas, doesn't just center around the free-floating staircase that rises through a giant atrium to the seventh of the building's 11 floors. But this dramatic element makes a big statement about the energy and motion at the online job search company.
In fact, the job search giant's staircases and logo screens are visible from outside the 309,000-square-foot building, which is located in Austin's Domain district. The Domain is a 300-acre mixed-use development on Austin's north side owned by Simon Property Group, and boasts hundreds of luxury-class department stores, retail shops, and destination restaurants, as well as offices and apartment residences.
Designing the building so that passersby on the street could see inside the floor-to-ceiling glass walls intended to position Indeed as a dynamic and exciting place to work, says Scott Specht, principal at Austin- and New York-based Specht Architects, the project's design architect consultant.
"It's expressing modern and dynamic technological ideas, but in a warm and friendly way," Specht says. "A combination of wood, plants, and other materials helps you get into the space while also keeping it clean and very simple."
Though the central staircase enables employees working on one floor to easily access most of the other floors and facilitates teams gathering to work together, the building isn't without elevator service. A bank of five elevators provides access to all floors and an open-air rooftop terrace.
Dramatic Staircases Add Energy
The building was developed and built on spec before Indeed leased the space and brought in Specht and Austin-based STG Design, the architect of record, to handle the interior buildout. The tenant improvements were completed in November 2019.
The central staircase was added after the building was constructed, making it a huge challenge and impressive feat of engineering.
"They had to cut giant openings in the floor slab and then support the stairs going up. It took quite a lot of additional structural engineering to hoist those gigantic prefabricated steel pieces up and into the building," Specht explains.
Spotlighting the staircase is a colorful fractiles mural that rises through the lower half of the building. The mural was hand-painted by renowned local artist Josef Kristofoletti.
A second staircase also heads up from the lobby but ends at the second floor, where a coffee bar beckons employees with lots of natural light, food and beverages, and a view of the lobby below. Specht says this single-floor staircase is intended to connect the reception area visually with the life and work that's going on in the building.
Employees swipe their badges through security posts to access the elevator bank and meeting and training rooms on the ground floor beyond the lobby. Two giant screens at the reception desk wrap a corner, creating a cube effect. The screen displays the Indeed logo with color-changing special effects. Video presentations can be shown here, along with seasonal variations in the logo display.
More plants are expected to be added, making the building greener than it was prior to Indeed's move-in.
"The design isn't doing anything trendy or over the top in terms of angles and curves," Specht says. "It's very straightforward, but also adds that human element of materials, such as wood, and comfortable spaces to hang out."
Furniture Choices Create a Varied Environment
Each floor within the building offers Indeed employees a choice of work spaces. Options include adjustable-height desks with dual monitors, cafe tables with bar stools, and upholstered couches and chairs. A full kitchen with a chef and snack pantries stocked with munchies on every floor are among the amenities.
Breakout rooms range in size from one-person phone booths to boardrooms with a variety of other options in-between. There are no private offices in the building. Instead, all of the work spaces are available to all of the employees on a first-come, first-seated "hot desk" basis.
Employee wellness spaces include yoga, meditation, fitness and music rooms.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Indeed office is currently closed, with all employees working remotely since early March.