Zendesk's Calm Space Takeover at Mid-Market

In 2011, Zendesk moved into a 42,000+ square foot office on mid-Market and took over multiple floors to support their growing business. The culture is very informal and relaxed, so the space needed to be something that reflects and enables the same. The three co-founders, chief creative director, and O&A designers envisioned a humble, uncomplicated, airy, and charming space where people could breathe, thus the use of white space, high ceilings and calm colors.

Mary Polizzotti

Photo credit: James Tensuan

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Reception on the 3rd Floor

Designed by O&A

The Buddha is Zendesk's mascot and his presence is felt throughout the office. He embodies all the qualities of Zendesk - he's calm, caring, quirky, and a bit sweaty. Mostly, he's friendly and distinctive. The Buddha on the wall behind reception is 9 feet high and 6 feet wide.
Photo credit: James Tensuan

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Conference Rooms

Designed by O&A

Dutch designer Tim Boelaars designed the pictograms used for the conference rooms, which chief creative officer Toke Nygaard renamed based on tools Buddha might put in his backpack, like "Rice," Bonsai," "Pen," and "Sword."
Photo credit: James Tensuan

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Third Floor Event Space

Designed by O&A

CEO, Mikkel Svane insisted on having a space that could host events that would bring the community into the office. A number of public events have been hosted so far - panels on women in tech, food justice panels, programming meetups, and a Canadian tech event.
Photo credit: James Tensuan

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Main Conference Room

Designed by O&A

The Dojo is the main conference room is primarily used for board, management, and executive meetings, as well as large staff meetings. The sliding wood door/wall is another clever way wood is incorporated into the design. All of the conference rooms have Buddha related names.

Reception on the 3rd Floor	Conference Rooms	Third Floor Event Space
Main Conference Room	View of the Design Den from the Event Space	Walls of the Design Den
Wood Wall	Kitchen on 2nd floor	Main Kitchen on the 3rd Floor
Couches for Chilling	F*ck Yeah!	A View onto Market Street