ZOO Group headquarters could be Canberra's coolest workplace

Do you eat your breakfast at home? Say goodbye to your dog before heading into the office? Have to make the journey from desk to water cooler on foot?

Well, you might want to think twice about where you’re working, because ZOO Group’s jaw-dropping Canberra headquarters well and truly trump the city’s stock-standard public service offices.

All the usual boxes are ticked. A sleek building in the prestige suburb of Kingston gets full points for location. The all important natural light is provided by walls of glass. However, it’s the extras that really impress at the advertising agency’s premises. 

Against a sleek background of dark walls punctuated by pops of the brand’s signature neon yellow, ZOO’s fitout has been thoughtfully designed to encourage teamwork and creative thinking, according to managing director Clint Hutchinson.

“Culture is number one,” Mr Hutchinson said.

“Even before the fit-out and how the place makes you feel, it’s about wanting to get up in the morning and actually come to work and be around people that make you happy and that make you think differently.

“The fit-out and the atmosphere is obviously very important. I’m a big believer in creating spaces that help people do what they do better and more efficiently, and that’s really important.”

When you step inside the ZOO offices, the first thing you notice are the quirky details; the wall of hanging terrariums, the pool table off the central meals area, a breakout space lined with artificial grass. But the decor is just one piece of the puzzle. There’s also office breakfasts in the state-of-the-art meals area, a resident dog, and hoverboards. That’s right, hoverboards.

It started by accident, Mr Hutchinson said; a gag gift for the operations manager who spent much of her day on her feet.

“We got talking about making that easier for her,” Mr Hutchinson said.

“I bought a scooter as a bit of a joke and now it’s turned into several scooters in the place.”

Hoverboards have naturally replaced scooters as the preferred mode of transportation, so people zooming past the boardroom has become a regular site at ZOO’s Canberra headquarters.

And it seems those who warn against working with animals were misinformed. At ZOO, Cookie the dog is “a part of the place” according to Mr Hutchinson.

It might all sound quite elaborate but for a creative company like ZOO, it’s well worth the investment.

“I want a really cool place to work, but that’s got to go hand in hand with how it functions and what it takes to get the best out of people,” Mr Hutchinson said.

Mr Hutchinson visited Google’s Swiss headquarters – arguably the world’s best office environment – a couple of years ago and was inspired by the business’ working environment and adult-sized play spaces.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely amazing, but it’s not about the money and it’s not about having the fanciest things,” he said.

“It’s about understanding who their employees are and building an atmosphere that gets the best out of those particular people.”