Old into new How Audible will expand in Newark with another modern workspace

Wayne Nash, the senior vice president of facilities at Audible, feels the root of the company’s culture is a blending of the old with the new.



Wayne Nash, the senior vice president of facilities at Audible, feels the root of the company’s culture is a blending of the old with the new.



It’s an idea that makes complete sense for a company that leverages technology to deliver the oldest form of entertainment to consumers’ devices: the spoken story.



And it’s something Nash says the Newark-based company carries into the design of its office space, which addresses common workflow problems while considering the modern lifestyles of the company’s employees.



That’s why the company’s January announcement that it is renovating Newark’s historic Second Presbyterian Church, located on Washington Street, into new office space made so much sense. The church, which has been unused for services since 1995, will house Audible’s engineering and development hub and represents the company’s growth in the Brick City.



“Bringing the church into our real estate mix begins to expand upon an Audible campus sensibility that is evolving,” said Nash, whose company moved to Newark from Wayne in 2007.



NJBIZ recently sat down with Nash about Audible’s modernization of classic literature, its role as a technology company in a historic city and how those juxtapositions are represented in the company’s workspace, both in its current office downtown and in what it has planned for the church nearby.



NJBIZ: Audible is a company that has found success in delivering the most classic of content in a technological way. What are some ways the company’s office imitates that idea?



Wayne Nash: What we attempted to design was a blend of high-tech Silicon Valley with the literary culture that promoted discussion and interaction beyond just the desktop. When we were initially designing the space and planning the move from Wayne to Newark, we knew we needed the space to promote collaboration and cross-functional team interactions and engagement.



As we build products, we do so by invoking and empowering cross-functional teams of software developers, product marketers, user interface designers. So, having a space that follows the concept of an open office enabled that.



NJBIZ: There are a lot of facets to the company’s existing space in Newark that are decidedly modern. What are some elements of Audible’s office that might surprise someone who is more accustomed to traditional work environments?



WN: It’s an egalitarian design; no one has an office, including the founder and CEO. We’ve also programmed the space for food and fun, and that shows up in spaces like our cafe, which serves free lunch, and the fact that we have a pantry on every floor. Then there are the fun things we build into our space, like the ability to reserve a pingpong table via Outlook and a meeting request.







A space of opportunity

When Audible relocated from Wayne to Newark in 2007, it decided to capitalize on a new opportunity to modernize its workspace.

“The space in Wayne was a disaster,” said Wayne Nash, senior vice president of facilities. “It was not inviting and clearly not conducive to the kind of culture and method of work we were migrating towards within the DNA of Audible.”

And while the concept of an open office was new for many of its employees, the transition was relatively painless, according to Nash.

“It didn’t take very long at all for folks to get comfortable with that fact that we were moving into space that was going to completely transform the way we work and engage with each other,” he said.



But it needs to be edgy, but not trendy. So, we try to design with innovation and technological richness in the design, but ultimately built to last. It needs to be nimble and evolving in an expanding and contracting space based on the needs of our work team. The space has to be dynamic.



That’s driven by our intensive growth demands. When we moved to Newark (in 2007), we were 125 people strong. By the end of this year, we anticipate being very close to 1,000 employees. So, the need to address that kind of rapid growth in how you design space, which is not just a workstation but hoteling capability, conference rooms, as well as collaborative lounge areas in that space.



NJBIZ: In the bigger-picture sense, how does the availability of mass transportation in Newark help create this modern work environment?



WN: I think we’re in a better position to attract and retain talent that diversifies the mix of our employee base. Folks who were used to commuting via alternate transportation or doing the reverse commute from Manhattan and the boroughs to Newark were already making that shift.



We’re in competition with firms like Google, who already had migrated to open office space with amazing amenities and, so, that transition, when we’re talking about attracting talent, was just a given and, I think, an expectation that our talent had.



NJBIZ: The company has been recognized for the investments it has made in Newark. What are some examples of how the company’s office has helped facilitate that?



WN: One thing I’m really proud of is that we truly value our relationship with Newark and all of our conference rooms are all named after individuals or inventions that came out of this city. That becomes very much how we look at our space and ensure that there’s a connection to the community and being a part of the community in terms of driving opportunities for economic development.



Within our space, we knew we were going to bring in a growing contingent of interns who are high school students that start with us in their freshman and sophomore year to high school graduates who became scholars for our high school internship program who come to us during college recess and breaks. They become very much a part of how we operate and work. Letting them experience that in our egalitarian framework has really helped us cement our level of engagement on the educational front in the community.



NJBIZ: How does the company’s new project with the Second Presbyterian Church development represent this relationship with the city and its efforts to mix history with modernity?



WN: The church just seemed to be a dream come true to me in that we have an opportunity to take three amazing buildings that have been decaying and corroding and have an opportunity to bring them back to life. We commit to highlight and preserve architecture, and this really puts us in a position to do that because it is an historical landmark. It’s also affording us an opportunity to focus on work-life balance because, not only are we creating an amazing space for our employees to be in, but we’re going to be tending to their nourishment and physical activity within that space.



We have a four-lane, vintage bowling alley we’re going to rehab; we have a full basketball court and a gym that will be available to them 24/7. We’ve chosen to create programming within this space that we’re rebuilding to speak to living, working and having fun in Newark. Njbiz

