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Maybe you’ve seen them on Instagram: offices that look much cooler than yours. There are soundproof telephone booths. Wing chairs. Bookshelves filled with strategically placed art books and old copies of The New Yorker.
They evoke a trendy work style that New York Times reporters Emma Goldberg and Anna Kodé have anointed as Envy Office. As they write in their article, companies hope that Instagrammable office design will attract workers away from their couches and back into the workplace, to do their work on velvet, dog-friendly couches.
Envy Office swaps both the cubicles found in traditional workplaces and the climbing walls of Silicon Valley tech campuses for upholstered chairs and faux fiddle leaf figs, nestled in cozy nooks. But it’s not just an aesthetic issue: the design also prioritizes flexibility and at the same time reflects a company’s brand. And some employers expect younger members of their staff to share their trendy workplaces on social media.
Kodé and Goldberg began reporting in August, visiting offices in New York City. But the style trend is spreading across the country: Gensler, one of the world’s largest architecture firms, said it was receiving more and more requests to build office spaces with banquettes and library nooks.
In addition to their article, Kodé and Goldberg also developed a quiz that helps readers discover their dream office setup. (Their responses classified them both as Sofa Sophisticates, or those who enjoy working in tastefully designed spaces that facilitate socializing.)
In an interview, they share more about their reporting and why they love working in the Times’ more traditional office, which was recently updated with a touch of Envy Office. This conversation has been edited.
Anna, you’re in real estate and Emma, you’re in the future of work. What brought you together for this article?
EMMA GOLDBERG Anna and I had dreamed for a long time that we would find something to team up on. Similarly, we are always looking for whimsical, creative, or just plain fun avenues into what may be more boring topics. When we saw this one, we felt like it was a natural intersection of what we both covered.
ANNA KODE It is clearly linked to Emma’s rhythm. And then you had this distinct angle of design and social media, which I’ve reported on a lot. The overlap was there.
How did you first encounter this type of design?
GOLDBERG I go to a lot of offices as part of my area reporting, and something I’ve noticed everywhere in recent months was the move toward offices that look like something between living rooms and hotel lobbies. Instead of the tech campuses of the mid-2000s, workplaces were beginning to look more modern, sophisticated, and closer to hospitality.
One of my favorite books, “Cubed” by Nikil Saval, is about the history of the cubicle. There has been this shift from cubicles to open floor plans and technology campuses. The questions Anna and I discussed first were: What is the next phase of office design? What comes after the technology campus?
The Envy Office looks less masculine. It’s sophisticated and communal, but without some of the luxuries the tech campus is known for. I didn’t see any nap pods.
KODE There is an element that is definitely more tasteful and there is a feminine design sensibility, particularly with one of the firms we have focused on, Roarke, who designed the Wing, the women’s social club that is now closed. I think there are still some “embellishment” elements. Many of the responses to the story were: We don’t need furniture for Instagram. We need better benefits.
Do these workplaces contribute to a better office culture or increase productivity?
KODE I think it depends on the type of person and job, but design has a major effect on our interactions and how we go about our daily lives. Everything from the way a hallway is designed to the inclusion of plants can shape people’s behavior and emotions in any space.
GOLDBERG One of the ideas we wanted to explore was that the design of an office always incorporated certain ideas about how a company wanted that space to function. For example, some of the historians we spoke to talked about how one of the things cubicles have done is communicate a sense of hierarchy. In every phase of office design, there have always been high-level ideas that companies try to communicate.
Much of what an Envy Office does is reflect a company’s brand or identity. For example, when we toured the Magic Spoon cereal brand, one thing the designers kept emphasizing was that they wanted the space to look like a cereal box. They wanted to capture the fantasy of their brand. I think what companies hope is that when people walk into an office space, they see the story the brand is trying to tell.
What was something you didn’t expect?
GOLDBERG One thing that surprised me was the idea that companies are actively thinking about how their workers are going to project the brand image on their own social media channels, because we hear a lot more about companies fighting to control the way their employees Employees use social networks.
The Times newsroom has an open layout and bright red walls. Does it inspire you?
KODE I love our building. I love Renzo Piano, its architect. I’m a bit of a nerd about it. The interior design has been changing. The Times recently added some of those library nooks we wrote about.
GOLDBERG I love our office and feel like I idealize it too. Similar to the companies we covered that wanted their brands represented in their office design, much of what I love about The Times is walking into this space and seeing colleagues doing their work.
I love the slightly chaotic energy of the newsroom and what it represents about the enthusiasm of the people who are there and the history of the place.
