Month: October 2011

Skywalker Ranch is a 4,000 acre working ranch that is the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas. It also houses his headquarters for Lucasfilm and Skywalker Sound.  Access to the main house is strictly prohibited unless permission is gained from Mr Lucas himself and no one apart from him and fellow director Steven Spielberg may enter the first floor offices!

The Ranch contains a barn with animals, its own vineyard, a garden with fruits and vegetables used in the restaurant on-site, an outdoor swimming pool and a fitness centre. Skywalker Ranch even has its own fire station!

Star Wars fans will be delighted to hear there is a man-made “Lake Ewok”, in addition to a hilltop observatory, a 300-seat theatre as well as multiple theatre screening rooms and parking that is mostly concealed underground to preserve the natural landscape.

Although used for business, the Skywalker Ranch is intended to be more of a “filmmaker’s retreat” than a headquarters for Lucas’s business operations.

The main house at Skywalker Ranch

At The Serviced Office Company we love gadgets and are always on the look-out for ones that will brighten up your day in the office. A day in the office can sometimes get stressful, here is our favourite stress buster.

Bluw 80s stress ball

Feel at ease with a squeeze of one of these 1980s inspired stress balls. Each one is designed after an iconic image from the decade that brought us spandex, big hair and leg-warmers. It’s the retro way to relax!

Green denotes harmony, blue inspires innovation and bright orange promotes creativity- especially if you ask the bright orange coloured news corporation Bloomberg.

In terms of design the London Bloomberg office probably tops many of its rivals; almost entirely made out of glass, filled with enormous fish tanks, bright coloured lights and meeting rooms without walls or door. All done in the name of transparency, creativity and sustainable performance.

Michael Bloomberg’s idea is pretty clear; the sales floor is green floor to ceiling inspires harmony, the research floor is blue to conjure innovation Bloomberg’s own brand colour, bright orange, acts as a  source of creativity and is on everything from lifts to coffee cups in the cafeteria.

Bloomberg is big on sustainability: the meeting area tables and chairs are made from recycled monitors and keyboards. The office even employs its own marine biologist to look after the aquariums housing over 4,000 species of fish!

Bloomberg, London