J-Labs Office, Krakow

J-labs has always been based in Kraków. Since 2015, its head office has been located in Przemysłowa Street, the district of Zabłocie. Before, the company had been managed from the attic of a semi-detached house in Borek Fałęcki, on the outskirts of the city. – The conditions were truly ‘garage standard’, as befits a novice IT company. No air-conditioning, no ergonomics, and the toilet was integrated with a small kitchen. We made jokes that we could
put the kettle on, warm up lunch, work at a desk and use the toilet in one go – recalls Katarzyna Bucka. – So, the office in Przemysowa Street was a huge civilizational leap. But it didn’t have the ‘wow effect’! Basically just white walls, carpeting and desks.

The kitchen was literally a few square meters large, and it was usually rather stuffy inside. And most importantly, we would sit in three rooms accessed from two different staircases connected by an industrial ramp. This had a bad impact on our communication. The appearance of the building, on the other hand, did not reflect well on us in front of visitors, which certainly made work more difficult.