How WeWork Experiments On Itself to Advance the Field of Office Design

In a nondescript building in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, the global headquarters of WeWork buzzes with creative energy. In just a little over six years, the start-up at the forefront of the coworking-space rental boom has created a $16 billion operation with 50,000 members in 28 cities, with 96 locations announced for this year.Spread across two and a half floors, the 50,000-square-foot headquarters is the home base forWeWork 's almost-700-strong New York-based staff and serves as a laboratory for its designers."We're our own guinea pigs in a way," says Devin Vermeulen, WeWork 'screative director of physical product, who designed the space with Ashley Couch, the company's global director of interior design."We shift things around and watch traffic patterns so we can learn from it," says Vermeulen, who, likeWeWork's cofounder and chief creative officer, Miguel McKelvey, used to design fashion retail stores.