Dezeen Magazine

Pernilla Ohrstedt designs collaborative newsroom for Dezeen's canalside office

London architect Pernilla Ohrstedt has designed a light-filled, collaborative work environment for Dezeen's new canalside office in east London (+ slideshow).

The company's employees share one open space in Ohrstedt's design, which aimed to create "a clean, vibrant and efficient newsroom where people, communication and stories take centre stage".

The Dezeen office in Hoxton, London designed by Pernilla Ohrstedt

As well as the central workspace, the office – located on the third floor of a building on Orsman Road – features a reception desk, film-editing suite, lounge area, and a meeting and interview room.

A key feature of the space is the nine custom-designed black Silhouette tables, each of which seats four members of the Dezeen team.

The Dezeen office in Hoxton, London designed by Pernilla Ohrstedt

Constructed by Joe Waller Fabrications, the tables feature offset legs and under-desk cubbyholes that shift the workspace slightly off-centre. This means that employees can see past the person opposite and communicate more easily across the whole room.

"In the room the grid of squares allow fluid movement between the tables, giving each team member a shortcut to every other person in the room," said Ohrstedt. "As you enter the space you are welcomed by a dynamic, friendly view of people facing in all directions."

The Dezeen office in Hoxton, London designed by Pernilla Ohrstedt

The tables, which come flat packed, also incorporate power boards and a cable tidy underneath. They are complemented with Vitra's black Allstar office chairs by Konstantin Grcic and Magis' Deja-Vu stools by Naoto Fukasawa.

A large magnetic glass notice board made of Abstracta Magvision panels both reflects light back into the space and provides the editorial team a place to pin colourful material from their inboxes.

The Dezeen office in Hoxton, London designed by Pernilla Ohrstedt

The studio team sit slightly removed from the main space, in a film-editing suite that is darkened with beige curtains made from Kvadrat's Divina textile.

A multi-use lounge area faces the back row of windows, looking out over Regent's Canal. It contains Artek furnishings – Ilmari Tapiovaara's Kiki sofa and armchairs, upholstered in Kvadrat's dark grey Hallingdal textile, and Aino Aalto's 606 Side Table.

The Dezeen office in Hoxton, London designed by Pernilla Ohrstedt

Bookshelves, a Viaduct rug and a profusion of Floom pot plants help to partially separate this space.

On the opposite end of the space, the meeting and interview room is enclosed by glazed slot windows and curtains. It features a longer version of the Silhouette table, with assorted chairs from Viaduct and accessories from Skandium.

Dezeen recently outgrew its previous office, which was located in a former doctor's surgery in north London and designed by Philippe Malouin's studio Post-Office.

The Dezeen office in Hoxton, London designed by Pernilla Ohrstedt

Ohrstedt was chosen for her innovative spatial design, including for Dezeen's exhibition with MINI Frontiers, where she created Glitch Space – a physical representation of the environmental data that will one day be captured by driverless cars.

She has also recently designed a new office furniture showroom at the Vitra headquarters in Weil am Rhein, Germany.

For job opportunities at Dezeen, visit our company profile on Dezeen Jobs.

Photography is by Ed Reeve.

Dezeen office floor plan
Office floor plan – click for larger image