Out of office

The Process and The Progress

The year 2019 was an intensive year with a lot of change at WONDROUS: we expanded our service offering, processes were optimized and a new organizational design was implemented. In the course of these changes, it became increasingly clear that the existing office infrastructure of our headquarters in Basel required an upgrade too. So here goes: We will be moving soon! 

While it is no secret that we have been putting a lot of thought into creating room for thought, we also spent a lot of time and thought on how that room, our brand spanking new headquarters, would eventually look like and what kind of requirements it will need to fulfill. What does WONDROUS need, as a company, what are our personal needs, as employees and what can we do to improve and facilitate the relationship with our customers – ultimately with a view to creating an atmosphere that will provide the most productive mindset and the best user experience possible.

Hindsight is 20/20 – Even in 2020

After putting in an immense amount of thought, the next step would have to involve a greater variety of rooms. The sheer number of potential office spaces we visited, led us to realise two things: Firstly, we are incredibly picky – which only shows we have very high standards. And secondly, the location of our office is half the battle in our industry (following the basic mantra of real estate: location, location, location!). The property must be centrally located, well connected to public transportation and located in a lively neighbourhood.

In the end the old proverb “hindsight is 20/20” once again proved to be true - after letting it sink in for some time, we figured out that the very first place we looked at, was actually perfect for us. You may know the feeling when looking for an apartment and the first one just blows you away, but you still keep looking and looking, since this is what people do, because… who knows, right?

The Perfect Space in the Perfect Place

Our new office will only be a three minute bike ride away from where we are now and will not only offer plenty of room for co-creation, but will also provide an excellent integrated space for our Digital Experience Meetup. Gundeli has been our home for the last 5 years and will now remain our home for quite a few more. In the future it will be even easier to reach – we’ll be even closer to the central station and more central within the Gundeldingen area.

In today’s fast-paced and co-working dominated times, a six month negotiation for a long term contract might seem a little bit loopy. Alas, quite the contrary, to us it feels more like a statement, a commitment to Basel, our beautiful hometown. This is us saying: we are here to stay. 

What’s left to say? As you might have read between the lines, yes, we are incredibly excited and hope we can stick to our optimistic time plan. Rest assured, as soon as we are 100% sure when the inauguration party will happen, we’ll let you know. Stay tuned.

Also, we owe a lot of gratitude to our fantastic partners: Daniel @ Vischer Architekten, Anne-Sophie and Horst @ StilObjekt, Michael @ Vitra, Frieder @Ranz Schreinerei & Robbie @ CSG Baumanagement.

Photograph by Dais Hirayabashi