Office Tours: Yellow Park

Welcome to Yellow Park! Our goal with our new HQ was to create a space where we can foster our company culture and support the diversity of our workforce. Every floor of our new office will be dedicated to a certain region that we operate in and our meeting rooms are named after cities of the different countries where Glovo has found a home. 

As a space that was built for employees, it was also created with their cooperation in mind from day 1. From the ground floor up, Yellow Park is filled with collaborative spaces and informal areas that will promote collaboration and flexibility among colleagues. As a real campus, there will also be an inner courtyard where Glovo employees can interact and be a part of the neighborhood. Our ground floor will be opened to the street as well, adding value to the city that saw us grow into what we are today.

A space for all 

We recently sat down with Cristina de la Rosa, Glovo VP of People, and Javier Vallés, Glovo Real Estate & Workplace Manager to hear about their experiences working on getting Yellow Park ready for employees.

How long has Yellow Park been in the making? What has your role been throughout this process?

Cristina: The team spirit shared by our workplace & people teams, Oscar, Sacha, the leaders, and with all of our providers has helped us to be able to bring to reality Yellow Park in only 6 months. 

Javier:  Sourcing phase started in mid-2021. Once we found the perfect location for Glovo, we started the design process, which was an amazing journey. Everything started from a people angle, putting efforts into creating a space that embraces diversity and inclusion. We wanted an office open that was ready to host anyone, regardless of their background. We counted on Ilunion as consultants to improve the inclusivity of the design. We gained a lot of insights and knowledge from them that were eventually applied to the fit-out of the building, the style of furniture, and the internal signage project (ie. sign for bathrooms). 

In parallel, we launched some round table discussions to involve our employees and get their input to improve the experience at the office. After that, the fit-outs started while the building was being finished. The complexity of having many companies working together on the same building really posed a challenge. Even still, we successfully managed to meet the delivery deadline in a record time of 6 months. Glovo led the project with full Gas to have the more than 16,000sqm ready with no delays.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to deal with for the move? What about the coolest thing you’ve worked on?

Cristina: Biggest challenge was for sure the seating plan on Yellow Park, with so many teams collaborating together and wanting to share some time. It was almost an impossible mission but I believe the team did a great job managing expectations and requirements from different leaders. 

The project as a whole was a great opportunity for me. Being part of designing the new office to help us shape our ways of working for the future while enhancing the essence of our culture has been challenging and fun. As our leaders believe, face to face interactions are the base for our values to stay alive, and we expect this new office to facilitate those relationships. 

Javier: The biggest challenge was, without a doubt, dealing with constant changes. There are so many different profiles and mindsets at Glovo and everyone involved naturally wanted to share their ideas for such a big and ambitious new office (which ended up being a really good thing). Managing all the stakeholders to be able to deliver the most suitable workplace for everybody at Glovo has been a tough task. 

On the other hand, the opportunity to be part of that process has been the coolest. To be there in that step forward for the company that bet on a hybrid model to enhance the culture and move to a 3x bigger office than the current one is really the biggest gift I got. That happens once in a lifetime.

What are you most excited for employees to discover at YP on move-in day and in their first few weeks?

Cristina: The fact that most teams are together again in open spaces on each floor, together with some of the collaborative desks & brainstorming spots, I believe is a game changer when it comes to reinforcing the importance of our hybrid model. 

Javier: In my opinion, I’d love to see that employees notice that the entire building is tailor fit to Glovo’s company culture. Nothing is random. For me, the success of that process is not only the building delivery, but it would be our peers taking the ownership of the building and making it their home.

What are your favorite aspects of the new office? Maybe some hidden spots or features you love in the design?

Cristina: My favorite spot is the ground floor, it will only be ready by early next year, but I believe that’s where the magic will happen in our cultural events. It will be a beautiful space very linked to our team dynamics and inspired by Barcelona city. Oscar and Sacha envisioned Yellow Park as a place that had to be integrated in the neighborhood and I believe the design of the ground floor will serve this purpose. We are also planning to open our doors to the community with different events along the year. 

Javier: Our aim was to improve the experience and the efficiency of the use of the space via smart solutions. For example, in order to improve the experience in the use of meeting rooms, presence detectors were installed to automatically release the room if it remained empty. We also increased the ratio of meeting rooms per employee through furniture solutions.

In terms of design, the industrial look and feel was the premise of the interior design. Also, the presence of the exposed brick as a finished wall is a recurring motif throughout the building that reminds us of our origins at other, tinier offices.

If I have to choose my favorite spot, I think it would be the quiet rooms. I think they will certainly help to foster a focus time environment. However, in between meetings, I will be happy to go out for some fresh air on the amazing terrace.