Pop-up Office - Spreewald Edition
07/2025
5 minutes reading time
Summary
Take the recipe for success from Munich, a colourful community of companies, agencies and creative minds, a great location and on 9 July we had perhaps the best working day of the year in a unique setting!
The pop-up office is more than just a very special working day - it's a philosophy. Our aim is to create creative spaces that inspire, motivate and connect. We believe that working together in different places and consciously taking time to do so as a team has a positive impact on us as an organisation and on our work results. And this is exactly where our culture design and the pop-up office come in: away from the classic office routine and towards an open and flexible working culture in the fresh air.
After the successful start in Munich with a unique mix of coworking, talks, networking, workshops and sunshine, we have now brought the concept to the Spreewald. What has become of it? An inspiring setting, exciting impulses in an interactive barcamp and plenty of opportunities for dialogue. Whether concentrated work, creative brainstorming and discussions or simply a break in the countryside - there was something for everyone.
Coworking where others go on holiday: Landgut Drahnsdorf was not only the perfect backdrop for the pop-up office, but also for our entire workation around it. Originally a vacant site in the countryside, it was jointly developed and given a new lease of life as a country estate and living lab by the project "Zukunftsorte".
Nestled in the unspoilt nature of Brandenburg, the historic farmstead is a real highlight - with light-flooded rooms, exciting room concepts spread across the entire complex and a huge, enchanted garden. Whether on the terrace, orchard or in the charming indoor area in the converted roof of the barn - everyone could choose their favourite spot and make the day their own. And once the work was done, there was a relaxed after-work session around the campfire.
To create even more space for inspiration and exchange in addition to the coworking vibe, we organised a barcamp in the afternoon. This modern and participative variation of a conference is characterised by its open structure and the active involvement of the participants. Even the content was left up to the guests, either by registering a topic in advance when registering for the pop-up office or by spontaneously placing a topic in the ‘Open Area’ on site.
The sessions on the respective topics were then assigned to specific areas during the afternoon, where interested parties met and exchanged their knowledge, questions or ideas.
Among other things, the following main topics were covered in the various sessions:
Culture Design & New Work
Stakeholder management: Becoming visible in digital product development
Sustainable software development
Design in transition - how accessible do we want to be in the future?
Knowledge 4.0 - how to manage internal knowledge in times of remote work?
Neurodiversity @ Work - High sensitivity meets the world of work
Once again, we have realised that the pop-up office is a place for anyone who simply wants to try something different. Those who want a change of scenery, want to spend a great (team) day, are looking for new contacts or exciting input. Organised like a normal working day, there was also plenty of room for normal daily business.
Whether entire teams, departments or individuals and freelancers: we look forward to hearing your ideas on where we could organise the next pop-up office!
Please get in touch with your suggestion at events@format-d.com.
Do you have ideas about where our next pop-up office could take place? Or would you like to find out more about organising a bar camp and our experiences with this dynamic and collaborative format?
Reach out: events@format-d.com.
At Format D, we believe that teamwork and creativity need space - and sometimes a change of scenery. As a digital studio from Munich, we launched the Wooo Days (Working out of Office Days) many years ago. These are individual days on which we deliberately go out as a team to work by the lake, on a farm or even in an IKEA furniture store.
The pop-up office was born from this very idea: a framework that finally allows everyone to participate. In 2024, we launched the first event in Munich - and the enthusiasm was huge!
Now we're bringing the pop-up office to the Spreewald. The goal remains the same: to create a place where work is fun, encounters happen and inspiration kicks in!
Under the motto "how to design a vibrant community" we invited people to what was likely the most extraordinary coworking event in the entire city, held at Minna Thiel. It was a day full of spontaneous, innovative ideas, collaborative work, inspiration around community, and an interactive panel discussion on the topic of Culture Design – all as part of the Munich Creative Business Week 2025 in Munich.
