
A senior vice president at Urban Company shared the challenges they faced while searching for the ideal office space for their headquarters in Bengaluru. He mentioned that he was so hands-on in looking for properties that many landlords thought he was a broker.
Amit Das, the Senior Vice President of Design at Urban Company, wrote in his blog that they began searching for office spaces in 2021 and it took them 1.5 years to find one they truly loved.
"Over these 18 months, I spent weeks scouting through properties with our admin team — to an extent that most landlords thought I was a broker. It wasn't my job, so to speak, but it's our head office and I wanted it to almost take us back to our early days at UC — small, collaborative and full of energy," he wrote, adding that it has been about 15 months since the team moved in.
Das also highlighted some fun features of their office in Koramangala, such as having more workspace than meeting space, and a designated area where employees can play during breaks or after work.
"I'm not fond of meetings," he said. "So instead of creating a lot of meeting rooms, we made for the minimum number of meeting rooms required and converted two large spaces for brainstorming and multi-week sprints instead."
About the "play area," Das explained, "We made prompt cards for employees to doodle ideas, leave appreciation notes for colleagues, and use tools like the Eisenhower matrix. We also plan to add recommendations for restaurants, dishes, and places to visit for colleagues from out of town. Plus, we have board games, a Nintendo, and a PlayStation for everyone to enjoy during breaks or on game nights after work."