Our new office: Social Media IRL
“No more offices — we’ve moved everything to the cloud. We’re free.” I remember a friend of mine proudly professing this to me. It was almost a year ago now. Woodblock was still located in our beloved Skalitzer Altbau, where my friend was sitting next to me, beaming with pride. They had successfully moved their entire workflow online, offloading most of their expensive office spaces in the process. I allowed myself to drift, imagining what that must be like. No more IT issues. No rigorous office hours. A flexible approach to resourcing. “We’re on cloud nine”, my friend chuckled. It was an idea he had mulled on for a while — an idea that the recent Covid-19 pandemic accelerated into action. They seized the opportunity and optimized their remote workflow with clinical precision. It was truly impressive. I praised him for revitalizing his team’s work-life balance and asked how the team now felt. His reply caught me off-guard. “It’s great”, he said. “But you do miss moments like this.” There it was. The nugget we had overlooked. The office is only a piece in the puzzle — with a vibrant culture and a compassionate mix of people, it’s barely an office at all. It’s a home from home. A place to socialize and connect sincerely with other like minded folk. The work-life balance was now easier to manage, but work suddenly felt more like work again. It left people craving for something more. Connection.
After nearly two years of the pandemic we approached 2022 with a renewed, steely optimism. Unfortunately, there was another twist to come. Due to regulatory restrictions we were forced to say goodbye to our studio on Skalitzer Straße — our home for more than a decade. The classic Berlin ‘Altbau’ whose high ceilings towered over you, its fish-bone patterned wooden floors and the old-school double-glazed windows that had survived more than just a cold winter or two.
We had just finished a substantial upgrade to our infrastructure when the news came through. We had expanded as far as we could, but in the end, our team was outgrowing the old studio. Many cherished memories were kept within those walls — rewarding projects delivered, late nights that drifted into early mornings together, and the Monday morning laughs over our breakfast meeting. But the time to close the door on that chapter was fast approaching.
This would surely continue, but the question was — where?
We began our search for a new space but my friend’s recent achievement was still ringing in my ears — could we also maximize our remote workflow? It would certainly be more cost efficient and our team had come to enjoy home office during the pandemic anyway. It seemed like a win-win. The alternative — significantly increase our working space in a risky and costly venture. In doing so, we’d be developing Woodblock into a new hub where established artists could explore and emerging talents could hone their skills in.
As with any big decision, we discussed it at our executive meeting, analyzing every possible pro and con. It wasn’t a fair fight. Onward and upward was the battlecry — a bigger space beckoned!
So, we spread the word in our kiez and started searching. Fortunately, a newly renovated Kreuzberger Furniture factory had just become available — perfect timing. Woodblock was on the move. We doubled the size of our space to almost 900 square meters, tripled the number of height adjustable workstations, quadrupled the amount of sun-friendly windows — and naturally, nearly quintupled our monthly lease. It was a risky choice, one we didn’t take lightly. But we knew what this space could become, especially when placed in good hands.
As we walked around the then empty space on Kottbusser Damm, we could see our team, old and new, passing through — sharing ideas, stories, and as often is the case, a cold beer or two. You could hear the fresh ideas echoing around the walls, along with the simmering excitement. In the end, we couldn’t put a price on that sense of togetherness which had enriched all of our lives to date.
The move, though expensive, was the bold step we needed to take in a stirring new direction.
But with any brave decision comes a rich new set of challenges. Since our big move in July, we have experienced countless late nights, filled with sweat and a resilient determination. From our malfunctioning AC to unfinished construction works, the team has been tested but remained resolute. In the midst of these tumultuous strains, an invaluable piece of information revealed itself: everybody is in love with our new space. It offers plenty of new opportunities that we are yet to explore. We’ve considered establishing a lab, a workshop space, bringing in scooters to race through our new maze of corridors, and of course, returning the table tennis table to the heart of the office. There’s the possibility to install phone-booths, offering those in need a private sanctuary for the good old hangout call. Then, as Friday evening rolls around, we could all rest along our window-front, facing down onto Kottbusser Damm — watching the cyclists stream along the permanent cycle path spreading throughout the neighborhood.
We’re under no illusions though. Many more challenges loom, ready to test us. Let them come — together, and as a team, we’ll tackle each one. My friend was right, it is possible to successfully optimize your remote workflow. But the question that gnawed at me was — why? This isn’t a journey we can navigate alone, nor do we want to. We need our people — their passion, warmth and wit drive us. We want to provide a place for them to grow, just as we have.
It’s no secret, we’re nerds at heart. We love technology and all of the beautiful advances its made. But it’ll never replace the sound of two beers clinking together on a Friday evening, as the sun slowly sets over Berlin. That magical feeling of connection will continue to drag us out of bed on a Monday morning, in search of laughter and coffee shared in equal measure.
I look back across Kreuzberg and salute and honor our old space. It nurtured us and rewarded us with many memorable experiences. We will miss the rambling elevated U1 passing by our window, the beautifully wild garden and watching our neighbors’ families growing along with our own. It isn’t easy to say goodbye to all of that which we’ve held so dear. But our new space has invited us in with open arms. As we put the finishing touches on the missing pieces here at Kottbusser Damm, I can look ahead knowingly with a fiery motivation — the best is yet to come.
We love what we do. But more importantly, we love the vast mix of people we get to share that joy with on a daily basis. As that pool continues to grow, so too will our efforts to nurture it as best we can.
Next time you’re passing by, stop in and say hello — you know where to find us.
