Wikimedia Foundation Hub

Completed, 2015

In 2012 our studio began its design partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), a global leader in democratic access to knowledge. From spatial prototyping to full floor redesigns, we initiated each project for WMF with research on human behavior and sought in-depth involvement of staff and stakeholders throughout the design process. 

Working on the WMF headquarters challenged our studio to think through what kind of space is appropriate to support an organization with (at the time) 250 employees but 20,000 contributors worldwide.  We spent time getting to know WMF’s culture to ensure that the Foundation’s workplace reflected their transparent, innovative identity.  Working in a historic building with a tight column grid (about half the size of a modern commercial column grid) we broke the space down into an area for focused work built around the agile software development model, and an area for hosting larger collective gatherings.  The gathering space needed to hold 150 people for quarterly meetings, while also being useful as a collaboration space the rest of the time.  Our strategy was to leave the space relatively open when experienced from a standing position, but with seating that  broke it down into nooks for about 20 people.. 

“I always learn so much when we work together. I’m so thankful for our partnership.” – Lynette Logan, Director of Administration, Wikimedia Foundation

Project Size: 35,000sf / 200 users; Our Role: Architect