A series on designing for the tech industry – Part Two
For Pepperstone, a global trading platform operating in a fast-paced, high-risk industry, the workplace needed to act as a cultural framework: a physical space that reinforces how people work, interact, and find balance.
Above: Open meeting booths.
Venko’s design approach was about shaping behaviour, supporting connection and reinforcing culture in tangible ways. That meant designing environments that could guide focus, support social rhythms, and embed shared values into the everyday. At Pepperstone, culture is built through contrast: fast and slow, energetic and calm, collaborative and solitary. These opposites are not contradictions but requirements for sustained performance.
Above: The Hive
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Hive, a quiet, light-filled library to reset and knowledge share. The calming heart of the workplace. In contrast, breakout spaces were designed to bring a charge of energy. A Lego wall, pool table, and pinball machine were selected to add personality and play, inviting connection through shared activity rather than formal agenda.
Left to right: arcade, pool table, kitchenette, hanging garden and table tennis.
The kitchen was intentionally designed to encourage spontaneous connection. A well-stocked fridge, quality coffee machine, and generous bench space invite people to linger. Large communal tables and banquette booths support everything from shared meals to quick regroup sessions. These features are deliberate cultural signals, prompting casual reconnection and healthy interruption.
Above: soft seating and areas to focus.
With teams across Melbourne, London, Dubai and beyond, Pepperstone needed a space that could unify without uniformity. The workplace doesn’t just reflect who they are. It was purposefully designed to enable how they work. Designed as a living framework for culture, it shapes pace, promotes cohesion, and supports high performance from the inside out.
Above: study bench with views.