THIRD WORKPLACE
NC
ACTUALLY, WHEN I WALKED
IN I WAS A BIT STARTLED.
I WAS FACED WITH THE
KITCHEN
RATHER
THAN
A BANK OF PEOPLE IN SUITS
AT THE CHECK-IN. DOES IT
TAKE A WHILE FOR PEOPLE
TO GET USED TO IT?
ML
I think people are instantly
relaxed and pleasantly sur-
����������������������������-
ing a barrier and there isn’t
one here. We don’t feel that
we have to do everything for
the guest because you are
quite capable and happy to
do things for yourself and
prefer it.
RC
The idea is that it is edited
but very considered.
NC
WHO IS THE IDEAL GUEST?
NC
TELL ME ABOUT WORKING
WITH VITRA ON THE DEVEL-
OPMENT OF CITIZENM.
ML
Vitra is a very high quality
product. It’s a wow. It cre-
ates a real environment. And
we wanted to work with
them to create living envi-
ronments
that
were
also
working environments.
RC
Well we call them “Mobile
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���������
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around them, people who are
travelling for work and for
leisure.
They
could
be
musicians or businessmen or
lawyers but they are young
at heart. They are looking for
a bit of predictability, be-
cause they are short on time.
One of the things I said was
that if go to Dakar, Hong
Kong or Bangalore, I want
the room to be the same. If
I’m going on holiday, I will
spend more time thinking
about the room, but for work
I am looking for location and
predictability.
The customer is value-driven,
style-driven. They appreciate
design – hassle-free design.
It’s for the people who want
a home in every city, which is
why we are only concentrat-
ing on the big cities: New
York, London, Paris, Hong
Kong, Shanghai and Istan-
bul. And we are only going to
be in the big cities but have
lots of hotels in those cities.
ML
And you don’t have over
obedient service but we train
anticipation so if people are
in a rush, we see that they
are in a rush.
There
is
a
very heavy emphasis on the
communal.
I
think
that
people are looking to connect
when they travel, that is part
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NC
ARE THERE LESSONS TO BE
LEARNED FROM WHAT YOU
ARE DOING HERE IN TERMS
OF
HOW
OFFICES
AND
WORKSPACES
COULD
BE
RUN, DESIGNED AND OPER-
ATED? CAN SIMILAR AP-
PROACHES
BE
APPLIED
THERE?
RC
We
have
applied
them
already. We have a brand
called Spaces, and there are
already four in Holland. They
are a huge success. It is a
new way of working.
They are whole buildings,
100,000-150,000 square foot
buildings. Upstairs there are
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�� ����� ��� �� ������ ����� ����
we have clients like Face-
book. They want “innovation
boxes” where 20-30 people
could work away from the
������������������������������
you can just be an individual
monthly member if you are
a freelancer or entrepreneur.
And there are one or two
������ ����������� ����� ����
communal spaces with meet-
ing rooms, libraries, individ-
ual work places, long tables,
hangout areas, a brasse rie
and a bar. We have music stu-
dios in there, casting agen-
cies – and individuals.
People come to us and say
we need 500 square metres
because we have this many
people. And we say, no you
don’t, you need 300 square
metres. Because you don’t
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you don’t need break areas
and coffee points. We have
all that here. And you don’t
need a boardroom or a meet-
ing rooms because we can
provide that by the hour. And
again they are great environ-
ments. Again, it is transfor-
mational.
ML
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brings like-mind people to-
gether. It is by convergence
that things happen, not in
isolation.
RC
If you are starting a new
business, you need that com-
munity, you need help. You
can get recommendations for
a great accountant, lawyer,
graphic designer, art director
or photographer. There is
such value in that. Or they
can post requests amongst
members like “I need a Span-
ish translator.” I want to
build these work communi-
ties where people help each
other.
Let’s face it, there are lots of
jobs in Europe that aren’t go-
ing to come back. So there
are going to be many more
independent workers doing
their own thing, working on
their own, being consultants
and not having the tradi-
tional working day or need-
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I only want to do things that
are transformational. I really
believe that the world is
changing and we are not
changing fast enough. Often
we don’t know what we want
or need until we see it.
