Dinosaur Polo Club

The client’s project brief to Catalyst was to create a new office space for Dinosaur Polo Club, a gaming tech company, within the historic Odlins Warehouse Building in Wellington. The project prioritised designing an interior that fostered a welcoming and wholesome environment to support the company's culture and impress both employees and visitors. Key requirements included staff wellbeing, comfort, flexibility, and multifunctional transformable spaces.

Catalyst designed Dinosaur Polo Club's space with a people-focused ethos, creating a flexible, multipurpose working environment. We incorporated materials and details that reflected the brand's values. Visitors are greeted with a full-scale green wall, with the company logo seamlessly integrated in a natural timber finish. The bleachers are multifunctional, with tiered seating and sliding whiteboard walls for game run-throughs, team pitches, movie screenings, and social events. Lighting and integrated speakers add to the atmosphere, creating a relaxing and calming environment. The kitchen maximises waterfront views, and joinery booths provide separation. The overall design evokes wellbeing.

The design of the space emphasises honesty and natural materials, incorporating colour blocking to convey a cohesive story. Muted shades are used throughout, including in the furniture, creating a harmonious relationship between the modern interior and the historic framework of the former warehouse. Bespoke elements include triple stacking sliding whiteboards for project spaces, as well as booths of various depths to allow staff to stretch out. Curved geometry and handles are incorporated through routered details and bespoke feature lights. Lighting is set up with controlled dimmers, allowing the client to transform the space to suit the activity or use, movie nights, events, and game previews. 

The bleachers in the open plan space were designed to act as tiered seating and incorporate storage and additional seating in the back. Their innovative form and placement define the presentation area, while curves throughout the fitout enhance the calming nature of the space. The cloakroom features moveable pegs on pegboard, providing flexibility for users to customise the space for their specific items. Planting is incorporated throughout, including potted plants, foliage as screening in joinery, and a large-scale green wall in the entry and recording studio. Atmosphere and mood were key considerations, achieved through dynamic graphic wallpapers, dimmable lighting, speakers, and colour.

• Project lead Anya Kouzminova
• Project team

• Anya Kouzminova,

• Montana Barker,

• Scott Wright,

• Tim Rayner,