This is a four part mini-series about the cool tech companies we’ve visited. To read about other tech workplaces we’ve visited, click here.
Photography by Jasper Yu and Twitter.
Loving where you work: A peek inside Twitter's offce
To love where you work is not something everyone can say with conviction or in truth. The exception to that might be Twitter – where they make it very possible to fall for, and stay in love with the work they do. At the same time, Twitter’s work culture is a reflection of the social media platform’s style, which makes for an interesting dynamic environment that favors both introverts and extroverts.
What’s cool about this office?
The local office overlooks the Central Business District, giving the place a great view of our city and plenty of sunlight – a crucial factor dictating the office’s outstanding interior design.
The 20+ informal meeting spaces are decorated differently, each with its own cultural touch that's unique to Singapore.
It’s no surprise that Twitter offices are known to be beautiful given the amount of attention they’ve gotten in the last few years. What these reports miss out on, is how each Twitter office combines both their company’s culture and the local flavor of the country, making each Twitter office unique in each country they operate out of. For instance, the Singapore office which has a capacity of 150 employees adopts a mix of tropical and old-timey elements that’s unique to our past. Some ceilings are decorated with a mesh of bamboo sticks, while the 22 informal meeting rooms littered around the floor feature shophouse windows. Other decorative elements in the general office area come with potted plants hanging on grills that resemble an old HDB block among others.
These little touches combined with full-height windows that stretch from the floor to the ceiling, make the office look like a local bird preservation sanctuary. That probably won’t go down well in a different workplace, but Twitter would consider it a compliment – the design takes extra effort to incorporate both bird themes and the social media platform’s quirks into everything else.
The Library Room is more unique than the rest, since it offers a meeting space with a great view, and a general break from the working rhythm.
The one-piece, hard wood table that Twitter is very pleased about.
The meeting rooms are named after real and mythical birds, and all the facilities and equipment comes hashtagged with clever names. The design language is most evident in the Library meeting room, where it features a quiet space that faces the southern waters of Singapore – making it ideal for a short break. All the meeting rooms can be used at will, except for those that are already occupied by fellow coworkers, and the most formal Emu meeting room that’s usually readied for larger, higher-profiled formal meetings.
More about what's cool in this office
Small pantries within the office provide respite to the Twitter folks. It looks a little tight in there, but that's only because it's stocked with that much good food.
With one common area (cafeteria) that serves complimentary breakfast on Mondays, cold-press juice on Wednesdays, catered lunch on Thursdays, and Social Tea-Time on alternate Fridays, it’s tough for Twitter employees to say no to the monthly gym membership subsidy. There’s also a smaller in-office pantry, well-stocked with tidbits, cereals, and good coffee to help you get through the day.
Send a tweet with the correct hashtag, and you'll get a little something from the vending machine. It operates on days where the office is holding an event.
Working at Twitter would mean working like someone who uses the platform. Employees are quick on their feet, arranging schedules and transferring information using cloud storage and online calendars. People can get involved as much as they choose to, as each talent has the space and autonomy to decide on their workflow and after-work interest groups. For example, the common area would clear the tables and chairs aside twice a week for yoga lessons, and any employee is free to start an interest group, should it not exist yet in Twitter’s roster.
This place is best for…
Highly-skilled, adaptable people with a great sense of pride in their careers would certainly feel at home in this office. Hui Theng, Senior Manager in Accounting and Delilah, Head of Direct Sales, say that they are always reminded of why they joined Twitter in the first place. They’ve toiled for Twitter back when it was a mere service office with barely any space to house all 16 employees, and now they’re sitting in spaces that can fit 150 employees, with about 70 more waiting to be filled. It’s easy for them to shape the office into a more conducive place than it already is, simply by providing feedback to their administrative peers. Hui Theng and Delilah share the same drive and hunger for achievement that can be seen in almost all of the employees here, yet none of them are bogged down by menial tasks. All in all, working here does have high expectations, but the work and office would be equally fulfilling in return. What’s not to love?
This is a four part mini-series about the cool tech companies we’ve visited. To read about other tech workplaces we’ve visited, click here.
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