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| Business Insider |
Pinterest has a sleek new HQ building in San Francisco which is
perfectly suited to the company's present trajectory. Earlier this year,
the image-sharing site overhauled its layout, moving to a cleaner,
sleeker user interface. Now, that same shift is being allegorised by a
gigantic staircase which spirals upward four floors and provides the
centrepiece for the company's new San Francisco head office. The
building used to be a John Deere factory, an American manufacturer best
known for making huge pieces of agricultural machinery. As the company's
designers explained to
Business Insider, the staircase is "awash in white space and gets you to where you're going faster."
As a whole, the building is colder, sharper, more business-like. But if this mega-unicorn is shaking-off its old horseshoes, it looks like they won't be coming off all at once.
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| Lounge and bar in the old HQ - img src: Business Insider |
The old HQ was characterised by a hearty dash of that particular branded
chaos - controlled, clean, held back to arm's length - which renders
hipsters drooling for more. The security desk was a motor car; real
vegetation sprouted from and old suitcase and bicycles; coloured yarn
(that's American for 'string') was coiled about, running around seating
areas and hugging structural beams. (There's a full tour of the offices
here)
It had all the penchants of a young, fresh enterprise: a brave look, new ideas and bags of creativity.
You also got the sense of acumen, quality and professionalism: beneath
the warm and cosy appearance, you knew that a lot of hard work built
that place. I mean, think of the rent! But as times are changing, so too
are looks: and as the company's new venture follows the pull of the
current, perhaps we should think of it as a branded new chapter in the
grand catalogue of Pinterest's overall accomplishments.
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| The New HQ, exterior - image source: Business Insider |
The architecture practice behind the new offices, IwamotoScott, has also been responsible for some very cool
building designs during
the 2010's. From the outside, the look has moved from arts and crafts
to minimalism: the dilapidated chic that was Sodosopa (sorry, I mean the
old office) has been replaced by
a large, rectangular shoe box,
with plenty of big windows and a few paperclip things on the top
corners. The whole thing hangs like a post on a cork board: it doesn't
forget the company's roots (come on, it's an artsy refurbishment of an
old factory - how hipster can you get?). But it's sharper, more
restrained than before - perhaps more joyless, but also more grown-up.
That's the image the company is projecting anyway; and it's not just because of the new site layout. The company itself was
valued at
$11 billion last year, after which it
began expanding into even more office properties in San Francisco. Incidentally, check out
Pando or
Investopedia for
an explanation of how Pinterest got to such dizzying heights without
really making any money (essentially, it's all about what it could
potentially make were it to branch out into revenue generation in
earnest).
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| Employees have
taken it upon themselves to add a little charm, installing these quirky
wall flowers to a lounge area. image source: Business Insider |
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| Frank Gehry-ish, anyone? - img src: Business Insider |
Overall, then, the new offices look a lot like the company itself.
Which makes sense. And perhaps they imply the enduring desire to keep
the show on the road for growth - I mean, if you squint hard, parts of
it kind of look like the inside of
a Frank Gehry studio...
you know, before the buildings are finished and all that. But far be it
from me, a lowly intern, to aspire so high, I personally wouldn't half
mind working there. If only I could draw...
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