🚉 Google's NYC High Line office

Envoy's video intercom and how Zoom sees itself in the office

Sep 03, 2024

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⛅️ Today’s forecast

The coolest office I’ve seen this year
A new feature from Envoy
See how floor plans get added to Microsoft Places
How Zoom views “Spaces”

I share stories about teamwork, the workplace, and interesting links. If you enjoy today’s content, I’d greatly appreciate it if you shared it with a friend.

🚇 Google’s new office is built on train tracks

In a city of skyscrapers, we wanted to develop a ground scraper.

- Rick Cook, COOKFOX Architects

Watch the video, coolest office announcement in years.

Google unveiled a beautiful new NYC office on the west side of Manhattan, built around a historic train bed built in 1934.

🚃 Originally home to 227 train cars, it’s now home base for 3,000 Googlers.

Every floor also houses a curated collection of desk-alternative work zones and food and beverage areas, each optimized with ergonomic and soft seating, generous work surfaces, and access power outlets.

More detail: https://www.gensler.com/projects/google-st-johns-terminal

🪪 Envoy’s virtual front desk

Kinda like Facetime for your office door

Last month, Envoy rolled out a feature called Virtual Front Desk.

Think of it as a smart video intercom system for visitor management.

Envoy's Virtual Front Desk is a solution designed to enhance operational efficiency and security in workplaces while reducing costs - Envoy

Where this gets interesting

One person can now manage the “lobby” for multiple locations.
No more “I forgot my key card, can someone come down to let me in”
A building (Class B), without a dedicated person in the lobby, can now have a person-to-person experience for the tenants. This is my favorite angle.

📐 Archilogic imports Microsoft Places maps

This is a cool preview of how maps get into Microsoft Places.

Microsoft Places uses IMDF file type and Archilogic is serving as an intermediary to generate the standardized file for use. They recently shared a tour of how to import a floorplan, map to exchange resources and send to Microsoft Places

Source: https://www.archilogic.com/imdf-conversion-service#Onboarding-Videos

🦓 The Zoom Zoo

I came across this visual from Zoom a few weeks back. It's interesting to see how they showcase how an office can “run on Zoom” across a few different product lines.