30 BCBusiness NOVEMBER 2015 PHOTOS COURTESy OF THINKINGBOX
S
ince launching in Vancouver …ve years
ago, Thinkingbox, a digital production
agency, has opened o¦ces in Toronto
and L.A. and relocated headquarters
to bigger digs in Gastown. Founder Amir Sahba
attributes the company's rapid growth to its
policy of not outsourcing work. "A lot of shops
use freelancers and contractors to manage the
workload regardless of the amount of work,"
he says. "We want to approach it as a business
where we have full-time staŠ so our clients can
count on the reliability. They can come back
to us again and again and know that the same
individuals are working on their accounts."
Staying in Gastown was critical when Sahba
started searching for new head o¦ce space.
"We have grown as a company with that
neighbourhood and we want to continue,"
he says. Thinkingbox also continued with
particleboard desks. "We built our original
desks in a cost-eŠective way, but they're
sturdy. When we moved to our new o¦ce we
wanted to kind of carry that 'heritage' with us."
The 10,000-square-foot space occupies two
šoors above a record store on West Hastings.
"We are growing fast so we are already some-
what pushing the limit of the space, but we have
been very lucky to be able to lay it out in a form
that creates a very collaborative environment
not only within the teams but in the company as
a whole," says Sahba. The developers are on one
šoor, with the animation and creative depart-
ment on the other where they can work closely
with strategists and project managers. The same
level houses administration, graphic design-
ers and user experience designers. A full lab
accommodates electrical work from soldering to
working on live activations done in-house, plus
there is a kitchen, bike storage and spots to play
games, chat or just chill.
■
O f f i c e S p a c e
Keeping It
Local
When fast-growing digital agency
Thinkingbox needed more space,
they didn't stray far from their roots
by Felicity Stone
Action Central
Thinkingbox's
Vancouver
office is on West
Hastings in the
heart of Gastown
