Gallery: The Startup That Designed Its Office to Confuse Workers

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    Procore Technologies, a company with headquarters near Santa Barbara, recently moved into new headquarters designed by Kingdom Industry. The point of the new offices? To make workers feel lost.
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    The designers did this by nixing any right angles. The floor plan for the entire 20,000 square feet consists of triangular rooms and hallways set at odd angles.
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    Many walls are actually concrete or wooden frames with fogged, transparent panes. This creates a jarring visually experience because it lets workers see into several rooms at once.
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    These bookshelves have a transparent backing to them. From that room, you can see activity in three other rooms, but hear none of it.
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    According to research in neuroscience, this kind of visual chaos can help workers stay more alert, by asking them to constantly reengage with their environment.
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    This is all a little ironic, considering what Procore does. The company makes cloud-based management software that helps construction projects stay organized.
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    That led to Kingdom Industry's major design insight: construction is a chaotic industry. You have to expected the unexpected.
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    So far, it’s working. After a few weeks in the new office, Corbett did a survey. Several of Procore’s staffers copped to getting lost.
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