Today we invite you to meet Christopher Diot, founder of Once Upon a Space . An innovative company specializing in office design and employee services , they offer a fresh perspective on each project. The team stands out for its innovative and creative spirit. Rather than simply imitating existing solutions on the market, they enjoy designing new and original ideas that meet the specific needs of each client. They firmly believe that creativity is the key to creating unique workspaces that reflect their clients' identities.
In this interview, Aire invites you to discover the Once Upon a Space adventure, this inspiring and promising new concept . Christopher Diot answers Aire 's questions about the genesis of his concept. Discover his vision for the world of work of tomorrow!
Discovering Once Upon a Space
Once Upon a Space offers companies the opportunity to design their workspaces. We also offer services related to a structure's employees. In addition to the layout, our goal is to offer companies an in-depth reflection on the employee experience . Thus, we approach projects holistically, taking into consideration all aspects of an employee's life within the company . For us, services are as important an element of an employee's daily life as the space itself.
Our approach is to design , find the right providers and launch the new service. We organize a monitoring to ensure that everything goes perfectly.
Defining a workspace
It's true that we're talking about the workspace here, and we're focusing primarily on offices. But it's important to note that the workspace encompasses much more than that these days . The evolution due to Covid is significant. And I believe it will continue to evolve further.
In my opinion, workspace refers specifically, in our business, to the places where a company's employees can settle down to work. For our part, we mainly focus on physical workspaces , such as offices of course. Or even coworking spaces made available to them. We are not going to explore other areas yet, but I think that ultimately, workspace can be found everywhere . It is omnipresent.
A workspace is much broader than you might think. It can be any place you can sit down . I even want to tell you, at the train station or at the airport, it can be a workspace. A café, a library, even the train is a workspace in a certain way.
Can you share your ideal setup with us?
Ideally, I like scalable workspaces. I discovered a very interesting concept at Vitra . It involves dividing workspaces into three distinct parts. First, there is a first part dedicated to a public sharing space , accessible even to people outside the company. Then, there is a semi-public area including collaboration spaces . And finally, there is a third area reserved for individual offices . This is where we find call booths and other more confidential exchange spaces. This area is less accessible to visitors and external people.
A concept inspired by urban planning: the village square
A few years ago, I discovered the concept of the 15-minute city. This led to a personal interpretation: the village square, which is very close to the basic concept. But I found the analogy more human and tried to think of a layout around this principle. The village square is a central space for exchange, open to all employees of a company . This is where the main services, sharing areas , conference spaces , and even open coworking spaces are located. There is always something to do and people to meet.
Then, from the square, access is distributed to districts. These are then places dedicated to the teams . They adapt in terms of size, just as the districts of a city can evolve. Each district has its own identity depending on the teams that work there. These districts are then surrounded by smaller and less important services than the central district, which helps to encourage exchanges between neighboring districts.
The workspace is today, more than ever, a place where we can come to exchange, share, feel the DNA of the company but also where we must be able to meet with our team without being drowned in a huge open space.
What do companies need to provide a pleasant working environment for their employees?
If we try to link this to the previous question, it will depend on the availability of space within the company. This represents an opportunity for companies to offer and create services that are not accessible in the daily lives of their employees. This may be due to constraints related to limited personal space or the lack of access to facilities such as a conference room, a music room, or a large library.
It is also important to offer elements that fit into the professional context . The office is not Disneyland, I also go there to access essential business needs (equipment, technologies, etc.) it is also an aspect that helps generate interest in going to the office .
You also need to think about comfortable spaces , using quality furniture , which not everyone has in their home. I have worked in several tech companies and, for example, I know that it is difficult to reproduce all the comfort of an audio mixing room at home.
How to reconcile spaces of pleasure in a workplace
I think that at every scale, at every budget, it is possible to offer nice spaces. For example, it is possible to create a meeting room with a console , we work there but at lunchtime or in the evening we play there and the decor can be centered around that. Better quality catering spaces without needing a lot of space thanks to a connected fridge powered daily etc… Not all companies have the space and the budget to immediately move to an immersive space with virtual headset, audio, atmos, etc. I also think that we do not come to the office to lock ourselves in a virtual universe individually.
On the other hand, it is possible to create a space where you can share content, books, and art. You can exhibit paintings and invite artists on an ad hoc basis. These are things you can do within a company, but which are not accessible when you are alone at home. I have seen many companies invite inspiring people to give talks to their teams; it is a way to create an event and set the pace for office visits.
How can modularity be a solution for businesses?
Our goal is to offer teams a pleasant working environment, modularity thus offers employees the possibility to take ownership of the space and create their own playgrounds . They can personalize them and adapt them to their needs . Modularity is most often applied to collaborative spaces, but it can also be used to modulate individual spaces by integrating elements that isolate noise, for example. Meta recently deployed acoustic partitions allowing everyone to create their own work bubble . This is of course an architectural choice motivated by the need to protect themselves from noise, but it also allows for a view cut for those who need total concentration.
The workspace at GAFAM
We talked about a layout project at Google . In it, you described mobile walls. I'd like to discuss this again because it's a concept that really interests us at Aire .
Indeed, Google has developed a mobile office project where all the furniture, including walls, vases, flower pots, can move. This approach allows the workspace to be modulated according to the needs, the sequences of a project, by opening or closing spaces. You can fix a large screen on a wall to isolate a team, but it can be removed when it is no longer necessary , thus offering greater flexibility . Of course, this can pose acoustic problems, but specific solutions can be put in place (fabric coverings, upholstered furniture, acoustic panels, etc.). The concept of mobile offices makes it possible to create a modular and open work environment , avoiding locking people into rigid spaces.
A meticulous job
There are also solutions for making spaces hybrid, and this type of furniture can incorporate them. Let's imagine a workspace with one team in Milan and another in Paris. It is essential to have a fluid connection between the two teams. We can use a large screen that can be fixed to a wall to isolate the team without forcing them into a closed space. If this screen is equipped with the technology developed by the company "la vitre" then I could have a direct visual bridge between my space in Milan and Paris. When the collaboration stops we can reopen the space and why not make this "spatial addon" available to a neighboring team. This avoids partitioning people in rigid spaces and promotes flexibility . These mobile blocks can also offer acoustic qualities if we work on the coverings and shapes.
I like to compare workspaces to the world of video games, perhaps due to my past at Ubisoft. When a publisher releases a game, they implement what we call DLC (a sort of update with content) to bring new experiences to players and keep the game alive for as long as possible. Let's do the same thing for spaces, let's create agile spaces where the life of teams and their ways of approaching places will allow us to bring new features to the initial layout.
Focus on Christopher Diot
What is your favorite workspace at home?
The dining room table. I have a big table (but a small apartment)!
How do you stay focused during a long workday?
I try to pace myself. As long as I can stay focused, I keep going. Then as soon as I lose focus, I take a break.
Do you have a decorating tip to make your office more pleasant?
The idea is to start with something simple, have light colors . Organize your space and keep the place clean . Very important to have good seating. I'm going to Slean to find a good chair, I had the chance to meet and test the products of this company at Ubisoft.
How do you organize your workspace to stimulate your creativity?
I'm constantly moving to different places, so I can't put into practice everything I bring to my clients. However, I do have the advantage of a change of scenery and workplace. So I see a lot of things, and that stimulates me and contributes to my creativity.
What's the craziest gadget you have in your workspace?
I have a Productive Weeks notebook, it's a bullet journal. It's not a gadget and it's not crazy, but it's still quite unique. In this notebook, I can write down my weekly goals, my weekend plans, and a tracker to try to establish certain habits (hello, exercise!). I regularly return to the previous pages to review the progress of a project in detail.
Do you have a song that gives you the motivation you need to work?
Yes, it's the Guardians of the Galaxy playlist.
Hook on the feeling : Björn Skifs There is a version of this song made by David Hasselhoff, the video is Priceless I recommend if you want to have a good time.
If you had an office, what would you add to your workspace?
A huge panel for visual project management
Is there a particular color that you like to use in your interior design or workspace?
I had a very green phase, I have a green at home created by Farrow and Ball in association with National Geographic. At the moment it's more of a Californian atmosphere with pastel tones.
Collection from https://www.farrow-ball.com/fr/california-collection
What piece of furniture do you prefer in a workspace?
I like large shared tables in a team space, more like a high table. Metal legs with punchy colors. For me lab and Moore are developing beautiful products in this vein, including some in collaboration with companies like Pavé.
If you could work from anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Without hesitation: Montreal, the culture, the welcome, and for the poutine. Otherwise, Bali , the culture, the welcome, but not for the poutine. I loved the spirit in these two very different countries.
In conclusion
The evolution of workspaces offers new opportunities to create more pleasant, flexible environments that are tailored to the needs of teams. The modularity and mobility of spaces allow workplaces to be customized and shaped according to the specific requirements of each project and team. Examples such as Google's mobile offices demonstrate how furniture, walls, and equipment can be moved to open or close spaces according to changing needs. This promotes collaboration , while providing individual spaces protected from noise.
Technological and societal advances offer incredible opportunities to imagine new and evolving spaces. The challenge will be to promote collaboration , productivity and employee well-being in a world where we are increasingly on the move and where boundaries are increasingly thin. Companies have the opportunity to offer unique services and environments, adapted to their size and resources while creating attractive workspaces that inspire and stimulate teams. And Christopher and his team have understood this well!
I hope this interview has been inspiring for you. Please feel free to leave us a comment to share your opinion. Your feedback is valuable!
See you next week
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