Airbnb, known for its unique home-sharing platform, has created captivating office spaces in London, Sao Paulo, and Singapore, each reflecting the local design and cultural essence. These offices are not just workplaces but destinations that showcase the diverse offerings of Airbnb’s global community, inviting employees to experience a blend of creativity and functionality.
Airbnb, founded in 2008 by Rhode Island School of Design graduates Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, started as a website allowing travelers to stay in ordinary homes instead of hotels. Airbnb offices in London, Sao Paulo, and Singapore, each space is created in collaboration with local design studios. The offices feature Airbnb listings from around the world, including a variety of adaptable spaces, such as the London office’s “village green” that can be used for everything from informal work to presentations. 
▽ The company’s Singapore office design was in collaboration with local multidisciplinary design practice FARM, incorporating Singaporean architectural typology and materials into the interior. The reception area is built around a porch, a common feature of many Singaporean homes, while the central staircase connecting the three floors is a “skyscraper”. Encased in traditional breeze blocks—a concrete grid, commonly used to allow air to flow through a structure—they are integrated into the workspace, meeting rooms are decorated to replicate homes available to rent on Airbnb, a common feature across all of the company’s offices. The meeting rooms are delivered like furnished apartments, giving a special feel to our employees.
▽ The design of the Sao Paulo office was led by local firm MM18, with the goal of creating a “mature and beautiful” office. Airbnb says the collaboration with MM18 was about gaining a comprehensive understanding of Brazilian culture and design. Through MM18, we were able to bring in local manufacturers, furniture designers, textile designers and industrial designers.
The team also wanted to provide enough space for a team that was constantly growing and evolving, while also communicating the feeling of an Airbnb home in Brazil. They chose a modern office building located in Vila Madalena, a neighborhood known for its art, restaurants and culture, organizing a space around a large gathering area, including an open kitchen and a series of large tables. Benches and patio seating surrounding the central space are inspired by the work of Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx.
▽ In London, Airbnb chose to work with architecture firm Threefold, who previously worked on art projects and organizations in the city. The design concept draws on the historical elements of the typical components of a traditional British settlement, farms, green, markets, libraries, terraces, and exhaled their key spatial and social characteristics, creating a microcosm of such a community.
The three floors are based on the aesthetic of a traditional farmhouse kitchen in this area, adding comfortable seating areas, a large farmhouse table, and an open kitchen area. The library area deviates from the central village green to provide staff with a quiet workspace and is surrounded by a series of individual seating booths.
Project Information:
Architect: FARM (Singapore), MM18 (Sao Paulo), Threefold (London)
Year: 2019
Location: London, Sao Paulo, Singapore
Photographer: Airbnb
