Slideshow

​Cisco’s amazing new office design

Can this office interior design layout with video conferencing systems, web conferencing, video conferencing services and telepresence give you office ideas about hot desking and the ability to go paperless or have a less paper office?

  • We visited Cisco’s new Office in North Sydney.


    And we were envious. In this open plan environment with over 450 employees, Cisco doesn’t run out of room despite technically only providing under 200 desks. People can work where they want, use meeting rooms when they want, use big 4K monitors and sit down on $1500 chairs – or business class-like aeroplane loungers.

    But we haven’t even mentioned the views yet. While they’ve lost the ability to look down on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House they can see just about every other part of Sydney and it’s Harbour.

    But what’s it like working in a place that makes you think of eating robs or drinking good coffee all the time? Could you handle it?

    What we know is we asked if we could go and hotdesk there and they said yes. Either way, we’ll be interested to see the next Cisco VNI internet report which comes out later this month and will make us lament the killing of the NBN that bit more. Again.

    Related: ​Who's at Cisco Live 2017 and what to see: The best parts
  • The view of Sydney from behind Cisco's reception.

  • Looking North over Sydney from Cisco's offices.

  • Does having diner style booths in the middle of your office make anyone else feel like eating ribs?

  • Work space or wait space or funky meeting room?

  • A row of standing hot desks with high chairs.

  • You can just set yourself up in a drop-in meeting room for a while but no camping - there are no power outlets.

  • We're suspicious of this. Hotdesking means no storing Post-its and staplers so that means having nice trays of them available to all. ORLY?

  • This is very well equipped for just rocking up and sitting down. Cisco has outfitted desks with cantilevered 4k curved Samsung monitors and $1,500 Herman Miller Aeron chairs.

  • A fire hydrant installation adds some industrial chic and breaks up the corporate lines.

  • They know their Aeron chairs are expensive and they've left the tags on. Herman Miller designs these to be used 24/7 and provides a 10-year warranty on all parts.

  • Multi-sized lockers are 'hidden' among the office and can be opened and closed with employee keycards. Atop rests another suspiciously-unplundered stationary tray.

  • The coffee machine cleaner cleaning the swish Lvazza coffee machine.

  • A funky meeting room or is it a lounge?

  • Yep, I'd sit there and work.

  • Soft curves help stop sound reflecting off walls creating a noisy environment.

  • You'd probably pay more attention in this presentation room.

  • These pods are designed to be like business class seats on a plane. We don't know why they're there but we approve.

  • Cisco's Spark board is a massive, 4K iPad used for collaboration during video conferences. Someone has added a PR win.

  • The Spark Board and Cisco web conferencing installation.

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