The magic of Dropbox is it allows you to work anywhere, using a nearly invisible interface. But the company’s 300,000-square-foot physical offices couldn’t be invisible. The space needed deliberate visual cues to support collaboration among the company’s many teams. Through extensive research, the Rapt Studio design team learned that a major source of frustration at the old office was that most workspaces were situated in narrow hallways, making collaboration disruptive and difficult.

So we created distinctive neighborhoods flanked by portals and meeting rooms to align with different departments. Rapt Studio created a library inspired by a fuzzy 1970s Italian theater with all round corners and plush carpeting. When sunlight shines through the windows, the whole space glows pink. A Deep Focus room is a darker room that is flanked by Dr. Strangelove-inspired war rooms for handling crises or for going on coding binges. Even Dropbox’s lobby is welcoming and alluring. With massive mirrors that collapse the distinction between inside and out, they are a space where you can already see yourself inside. The lobby reflects the company’s core values: infinite depth of storage and possibility.