Who You Gonna Call? Airtasker! by Siren Design

Photography by Danny Kildare

Published by
September 25, 2017

Airtasker’s new workplace reflects the company’s goals, purpose and growth, and is designed for getting more done.

The online marketplace Airtasker has become a first stop for when you need to get work done that you don’t have the time, skills or desire to do yourself. So who does Airtasker call when it needs work done? For the design of its new Sydney office, they approached Siren Design. “Airtasker, the ‘get-more-done’ gurus, appointed us to create a space that helps them do just that,” says Tamara Sheeran, Siren Design Practice Director. “The open workspace enables them to think, play and collaborate, but also be functional and agile enough to support their empire and afford the flexibility for future growth.”

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Siren’s design concept was to create a space that expressed and fostered the young company’s humble and welcoming culture. “A lively, relaxed and practical home away from home,” Tamara says. In addition to the open-plan work area, the Airtasker workplace has booths for quiet, focused and collaborative work; a main boardroom and smaller meeting rooms; drop-in zones with stools, high tables, beanbags and low lounges; a kitchen and breakout area with large communal table (for lunch together and playing cards on Friday nights); and a ‘morning huddle zone’ where the team comes together to kickstart their day.

To keep the space warm and inviting, the design team used a playful colour palette to soften the exposed ceiling, ducting and existing heritage columns. There is geometric patterning on wallpaper, upholstery and kitchen splashback, and the timber in the breakout area balances the concrete-look carpet.

Airtasker’s growth has been rapid since its founding 2012, and it’s done three rounds of capital raising since 2015. With the expectation of future growth and the company’s evolution, Siren Design created a large timber history wall as a focus in the open work area. “It serves as a constant and visible reminder of the targets and goals of the company,” Tamara explains.

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In addition to Siren Design, Airtasker also enlisted members of its online marketplace to help with the relocation and move, and to create the murals on the walls. Working closely with the Airtasker graphics team, the commissioned artist created colourful scenes that capture the values and goals of the brand and the services Airtasker members provide. The two murals feature people carrying out everyday tasks such as painting, cleaning, hanging pictures and gardening; basically getting more done, as the Airtasker team does in their new workplace.

 

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