Expensify, Portland Office | ZGF Architects LLP

When Expensify decided to expand its operations to Portland, OR in 2016, the tech company found the perfect new home in the historic downtown First National Bank building. ZGF partnered with Expensify to design an interior that reflects the company’s signature “chose-your-own-adventure” work setting, paying homage to the company’s beginnings working in local coffee shops and, later, out of a San Francisco office with no assigned seating. 

Every space in the soaring four-story atrium, complete with classic columns, giant bank vaults, and original marble, functions as a workstation. Seating is unassigned, conference rooms are unbookable, and employees choose where to sit depending on their individual style, mood, and the kind of tasks they have to tackle that day. The main floor includes a kitchen stocked with snacks and kombucha-on-tap and living room area with cushy ottomans, while a custom 41-foot wood and brass inlaid communal table presides over another zone. Upstairs, the boardroom channels a modern Mad Men aesthetic, and a speakeasy-style salon with mirror-clad walls lies through a set of hidden doors. For heads-down work or private phone calls, a bank of hutches tucked away on the fourth floor draws inspiration from an alpine village.

Multilevel wooden stairs break up the atrium’s volume and are flanked by two brass-clad, glass-enclosed rooms that appear to float in space, themselves topped with open “crow’s nest” perches that are functional work areas. The treehouse image is perfected by a suspended chaise that hangs from one of the workspaces like a swing. Expensify employees have embraced the new office, and on any given day can be seen moving from one space to another, often with a dog or two in tow.