Since 2017 is almost over, we took the chance to look back at some of the offices we've explored this year as part of our Office Envy series. In the following, you'll find the ones that we think stood out from the crowd because of their architecture, decor, view or special quirks. We've listed the spaces chronologically, depending on when we took the Grand Tour.
Here’s a look at some of our favorite offices from 2017:
MOO
The on-demand printing company office in Boston is really "a typographer’s paradise," as we wrote back in January. That's consistent with the company's brand, as the London-based venture is all about design for business cards, flyers, posters, invitations and notebooks. The office in Chinatown, which is split between two 4,000-square-foot spaces, has a number of stylish fonts adorning its walls, with some of the fonts serving as the names of conference rooms ("I'll see you in Obsidian” is a possible sentence to schedule a meeting in a room on the second floor, for example).
See more photos from MOO's office here.
Fuze
In mid-May, the company moved to the 51,000-square-foot space in Copley Square from its old office in Cambridge, which was a bit smaller: 37,000 square feet. The new hub, which accommodates 306 employees, is an open area designed to let teams communicate with each other more easily. At Fuze, meeting rooms are named after sandwiches, including Falafel, Fluffernutter, Turkey Club and Bahn Mi. Fun fact: the silver table in the waiting area is actually an old logo of Fuze, when the communication company was still named ThinkingPhones.
See more photos from Fuze's office here.
Digital Ocean
Not many companies have a consistent office theme as Digital Ocean. The Cambridge-based cloud computing software provider has an aquatic vibe spreading from the blue hues and the ocean-themed decorations (including the bathroom's signs). Digital Ocean has raised over $100 million in venture funding from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz.
See more photos from Digital Ocean's office here.
Finally Light Bulb Company
Located in the same building as Piaggio Fast Forward near Sullivan Station, Finally Light Bulb Company is trying to reinvent light bulbs by taking to the market one of Nikola Tesla’s inventions – the Tesla coil. So far, the company has 30 employees, 25 of them based in the Boston office and 5 in Shangai, China. The Boston office is the kind of place where scientists can unleash their creativity and test prototypes. The place is equipped with two conference rooms and several "point of interruptions" for casual conversations.
See more photos from Finally Light Bulb Company's office here.
SmartBear
The provider of software developer tools became the first tech tenant at Somerville’s Assembly Row development a couple years ago. The office, which has a clear open space design, is home to 175 employees who enjoy the company's many perks, including a space for recreation, a recording studio and an annual $75 "sneaker allowance." It's not much of a coincidence that many of the decors are... bear-inspired.
See more photos from SmartBear's office here.
Crimson Hexagon
The Harvard-born company - working in the social media analytics space - currently occupies a two-story space of over 28,000 square feet in the Innovation District. The first floor is the home of the service, sales and consulting departments. Upstairs, you can find the marketing, finance and IT people, as well as the engineers. The entire space is meant to encourage collaboration among the 140 employees.
See more photos from Crimson Hexagon's office here.
Catalant
In June, the tech startup backed by Mark Cuban settled down in a 27,000 square-foot space in Thomson Place, not far from Crimson Hexagon’s headquarters (see above). Special features include a wellness room, where employees can sit in the dark and take naps for up to 30 minutes, and a quiet zone called "The Library." On the entire floor, there are no private spaces or single offices, with the exception of the 17 meeting rooms.
See more photos from Catalant's office here.
Cybereason
Our envy for the current office of Cybereason may end shortly. The company moved into its new Boston headquarters last fall, but with 110 employees locally now, the cybersecurity startup is already busting at the seams on the 21st floor of the John Hancock Building and plans to move to a new floor in 2018. In any case, Cybereason’s open office-style headquarters in Boston provides employees with a sweeping view of Boston’s Back Bay, Cambridge and other surrounding areas.
See more photos from Cybereason's office here.
Markley
The artsiest office among the ones we visited this year is home to Markley, a one million square foot data center that serves The Red Sox, universities, medical and pharmaceutical organizations based in the Boston area, as well as AT&T and Comcast. In addition to portraits of every single employee of the company on display at the two entrance halls, there are wall-wide close-ups of some of the world’s most famous innovators.
See more photos from Markley's office here.
OwnerIQ
Extra-soft couches. Comfortable armchairs. Matching pillows. These are some of the main features of the Fort Point office of OwnerIQ, an advertising technology company that has a total of six locations in the U.S., including Boston. In August, the company moved from the 4th to the 6th floor of the building at 27-43 Wormwood Street. On a corner of the office, there’s what employees call “The Bridge” – a sort of room-in-the-room where only executives sit.
