Breaking news: Our office is cold! And it sucks. But management is on it and they’re trying to fix it. If this sounds like a slow-news-day story to you, it’s not, because Fast Company totally wrote an entire post about some lovable snitches within our blog family at Gizmodo Media Group who spoke about the current state of our office space.
That current state is cold:
It’s cold out there for reporters–especially those who work at Gizmodo‘s New York office. The walls of the former Gawker news site, which is now owned by Univision, are allegedly so poorly insulated that employees wear multiple layers and huddle close to space heaters, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
The Union Square office’s architecture is supposedly the crux of the issue, say multiple people I spoke with. The office is apparently built with little, if no, insulation—which gives it a clean visual aesthetic of brick and metal beams. The Nick Denton-led Gawker executive team that originally designed the office wanted a “raw” aesthetic for the space. (This stoic, exposed look is something Gawker’s leadership team historically chose for its various offices.) One source directly familiar with the build-out tells me that, for this space, Gawker made the decision to not add insulation to the bare metal and cement walls that came with the building.
These are all facts. No false statements here. No “fake news.” The literal design of our offices is making an otherwise warm day feel all chilly willy.
As I type, I am blogging from the frozen concrete tundra that is Giz HQ in New York City, where I have on a jacket and am trying to convince myself I am warm. After all, it’s supposed to be more than 70 degrees in New York today! Sure, it “feels” like it’s cold in this office, but maybe it’s not cold? Maybe it’s all in my head? Sure, my co-workers are layered up like we’re all going on an especially icy ski trip, but maybe it’s a shared delusion, a folie à deux that’s actually a folie à “100-plus” people.
Or maybe it’s just cold in here? I dunno. Of course, we at The Root will naturally have updates as this story develops.
(Update: It’s still cold. Send gloves.)