step into my office
Vibes co-founder Alex Campbell is procollaboration and anti-pigeon
1 Friendly confines
In 1998, Alex Campbell and Jack Philbin were splitting a one-bedroom apartment in Wrigleyville, trying to launch a mobile marketing company in an era when apps were what you got before the entree. Fifteen years later, each has more spacious living quarters, but they still keep things cozy from 9 to 5. “We’ve shared an office since day one,” Campbell says. A conference space built out between their desks serves as both meeting area and buffer: “We’re far enough away from each other to not hate each other.”
2 Curves
When Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci dreamed up his storied sequence 800 years ago, he could only hope it would become the design inspiration for a company that had its big break hooking teens on texting at a Britney Spears concert. Like Fibonacci’s golden spiral, Vibes’ layout curves around and around into larger and larger areas. Unlike Fibonacci’s golden spiral, it begins at the elevators. From there, visitors take the footbridge through the courtyard in the building, then to a dining and gaming area, and finally to offices and open workspace. “It’s like a snail,” Campbell says. “There’s kind of a flow.”
3 Holes in the walls
From the glass-enclosed conference spaces to a giant circular couch Campbell calls the “hot tub,” there are plenty of places for employees to come together and spitball. But it was important for the company to have nooks where developers could hole away when they needed to get down to business. “We needed spots where you could get away,” Campbell says. “It’s open, but you can find places to go hide.”
4 Tenant displacement
One of Campbell’s favorite parts of the office is the balcony, where hammock chairs look out over the building’s green roof. When Vibes moved in, the view was marred by the antics of some persistent pigeons. Instead of turning to pistols or pitchforks to evict the flying rats, the Vibes team fired up its smartphones. They installed a pressure washer inside a fake owl, then built an app that allowed users to do some target practice. “It was like Angry Birds for real,” Campbell says.