The Sandbox: A Test Lab for Design
The Sandbox is Pivot’s Research + Design team’s first test lab for studying product, settings, and how people engage these tools in the workplace. This is the untethered, multi-posture experience we’ve all been looking for. There is room here for you and your ideas.
Previously housing our design department, the redesign addressed post pandemic needs such as support for a distributed work model. The decreased need for an abundance of traditional workstations allowed us the square footage to create a new way of working in our existing space. The Sandbox now has endless opportunities for use, from group collaborations, to individual focused work, to internal all-hands meetings. The space is here to support and confirm to those who use it, rather than constrain behaviors.
Pictured above: renderings of the Sandbox prior to completion.
Adaptive, accommodating and empathetic.
Traditional training rooms are typically windowless rooms where you settle into a single posture for a day of learning. There is very little potential for surprise or interaction, and we think that is a little unkind to our human bodies and brains. The Sandbox is essentially the antidote. It is the shift from a prescriptive mindset – a rigid, top-down, set it and forget it perspective – to an adaptive, accommodating, empathetic and very human centered mindset.
The Sandbox is used for far more than just internal collaboration: part of the intended use is to host external guests for workshops on current or potential projects as well as guest speaker engagements. This space can also be booked by external guests who want to host their own workshops or team collaboration sessions outside of their own offices.
“Utilizing a different space from your normal day to day routine can have a very positive impact on team bonding and creative tasks,” said Jax Menges, Lead Designer. “The Sandbox has been well received both internally and externally. On days when the space is not booked for an event, internal team members love to use it for uninterrupted focus work away from the more populated areas of the design center. Our most common comment is that the space never looks the same for more than a week, product is moved and reconfigured for different users’ needs, so there is always a new layout to check out and experience when you come in.”
A space to create.
Almost all the furniture selected for the space are on casters including workstations, power carts, collaborative tables, and even privacy structures. We also have a strong and activating color palette highlighting Herman Miller’s Canyon finish. This bold color offers a cue to end users that these pieces are dynamic and meant to be moved around and played with to fit their needs.
Distributed work brings about a challenge of providing enough spaces to meet the needs and occupancies of different workflows. Creating an area unobstructed by walls that can contract and expand seat count provides more freedom throughout the floorplate.
"For a creative team that draws inspiration from space to ignite the exploration of new ideas, we found Pivot’s Sandbox as the perfect location for our latest leadership retreat. We firmly believe that our cognitive capacities stretch beyond our brains all the way to the tools we use. Having the ability to manipulate the furniture, our seating positions, to interact with the digital tools and to move around throughout the day, fostered a sense of openness and freedom that allowed us to dive in the strategic thinking we needed to complete.
We particularly enjoyed how intuitive the layout is and how it encouraged movement and interaction that resulted in spontaneous creativity."
- Antonio Caliz, Principal & Partner, AP+I
Easily configured.
“I have personally reconfigured this Sandbox at least 25 times and I’m still always amazed at how easy and quickly the space can be transformed,” said Jax.
The future of workplaces will always need to adapt, there is no one size fits all. Users of the Sandbox (both internally within Pivot and externally with our A&D and client partners) will be surveyed to gather data on what works in the space and what does not. Over time, this space will be able to quickly change with new product introductions and setting types to constantly improve and solve for future needs.
The space features a number of flexible, easily configured products, such as:
• Herman Miller Passport Table
• Knoll Tech Carts
• Muuto Nerd Stool
• Hightower Gimbal Jr.
• Arper Cila Go
• MTRL Custom Desking
• Watson Edison Jr., Essential and C9 Desks
