A year of working in one room

For the first few years, Atrium was an open studio in name only. Designers sat on one side, the film team on the other, and the editors worked wherever there was a free desk.

Last spring we took down the last partition and put everyone around one long table. A year later, here is what we have learned.

Ideas travel faster

When the director can see the typography being drawn, the titles in the film start to look like the identity without anyone asking. When the designer overhears an interview, a line of copy finds its way onto the packaging. Nothing gets lost in a handover, because there is no handover.

Clients see more

We now hold most reviews at the table itself, surrounded by whatever we are working on. Clients see the rough sketches next to the finished frames, and the conversation becomes about the idea rather than the slide.

It is louder, sometimes

One room is not always a quiet room. We built a small library at the back for calls and deep work, and agreed on silent mornings twice a week.

It is the best decision we have made. The work is more connected, the team is closer, and every project now feels like it was made by one mind.