Futurespace designs new futurist MYOB office in Melbourne's Richmond

Accounting software maker MYOB's new office in Melbourne's Richmond is a far cry from the dilapidated warehouse from which it was shaped to reflect a futuristic workplace by design firm Futurespace.

While planning the makeover, the interior design and architecture agency asked MYOB's employees how they would like to work and what features they would like. With these insights, Futurespace set out to create a tech hub based on the principals of agile working, including inception rooms to foster innovation, plug and play technology, informal meeting spaces and a funky garage space for meetups and hackathons.  

The new office space in Richmond reinforces MYOB’s investment to local technology talent. The office houses more than 200 of its engineering and development employees.

“This is not your typical corporate office. The way we work is becoming more fragmented and the MYOB office is an embodiment of this," said Futurespace managing director Angela Ferguson. 

"We took the time to understand what MYOB’s employees wanted from the space plus how they worked and combined this with MYOB’s values of innovation, collaboration and high performance.” 

The location and fitout are both drawcards in a part of Melbourne that is fast becoming a technology and innovation hub.

“The space was designed to attract and retain talented team members, but it goes beyond that. It aligns the principals of lean and agile software development with the physical space,” said Ferguson.

As an instance, Ferguson said MYOB's employees asked for lots of walls to write on, which was not possible in an open warehouse with few walls. Futurespace overcame the challenge by introducing mobile scrum/Kanban walls that didn’t close in the space or block natural light.

Alla Keogh, MYOB head of People and Performance, said the idea was to create "an inspiring, contemporary, technology hub for our people to collaborate, innovate and interact that reflect our values, brand and unique culture".

"It is a place for our product development and user experience and design teams to be inspired to build world class software products for our 1.2 million clients,” said Keogh.  

The feedback from employees has been very positive too.

Design elements included in MYOB’s new office include:

The office includes a wellness/prayer room and a dedicated mothers’ room.

Garage inspired space – An area that performs a variety of functions, like meals, quick coffee meetings, games and down time, team meetings and a space for meetups and hackathons.

Inception rooms – Spaces that teams use to explore ideas, begin a new project and ‘create’. These rooms have flexible furniture along with digital and analogue tools. 

Platform spaces – Designed to occur throughout the workstation areas, they provide a relief for the workspaces and can be used for chance meetings, quiet work, small team meetings, brainstorming and relaxation/rejuvenation. 

Tiered bleacher style seating area – This can be for large ‘all staff’ meetings and has a video link to other MYOB offices. This can also be used for individual quiet work, informal meetings and other small to large gatherings.

Booth seating – Essentially informal meeting rooms.    

Plug and play technology – This means the connection with other MYOB teams in different locations is seamless. The technology is intuitive and easy to use.