Inventionland submission for Architizer ? World?s Coolest Office contest
Inventionland, the design facility of Pittsburgh-based Davison, has received national and international attention for its innovative workspace. Designed to spark imagination and foster creative thinking, the more than 60,000-square-foot space features flowing water, grassy knolls and offices in 15 fantastical sets. Inventionland is the dream of Pittsburgh native, George Davison, whose mission is ?to release that creator within.? The entrepreneur and inventor realized that he had to keep his creationists inspired and motivated to constantly create new ideas for products, packaging, entertainment shows, web design and marketing. To achieve this result, Davison decided to change the work environment and ?get creative people out of cubes.? Davison designed and created the workspace with the help of his talented team of designers. It was built almost entirely in-house, and many of the ideas of employees who worked on it also were incorporated. The fully-functional, inspirational design factory opened for business in the fall of 2006.
Designers work in 15 unique themed sets*, including a larger-than-life robot, a waterfall-draped cavern, a shipwrecked pirate ship, a 12-foot cupcake, a motor speedway ringed by a slot car racetrack, and a castle complete with turrets and drawbridge. In addition to providing a stimulating and inspirational setting, each department offers an environment where the products being developed can be used, tested and photographed in-house. The workspace also includes three running waterfalls, life-like trees and butterflies and chirping birds to refresh the spirit. In the rear of Inventionland is a red carpet that leads to a state-of-the art audio, video, and animation studio complete with sound room and one of the largest green screens in the region.
Davison has traded in his ordinary office in the neighboring building for a creative office in the Thinktank Treehouse, a workspace suspended on a large faux tree above a stream fed from a waterfall in the rear of the environment. From there, he can look out at the waterfalls of the cavern and the turrets of InventalotCastle. He and his team often brainstorm on the deck, thinking up the products of the future.
The facility also houses fully-equipped workshops for creating working prototypes of inventions. Metalworking, woodworking, mold-making, laser cutting, prototyping, circuit board construction, and more take place in a state-of-the-art product sample construction factory, which produces about 200 new product samples every month.
The secret entrance to Inventionland is hidden in Edison's Lab, a room that highlights the evolution of the company and its product successes. Edison?s Lab also is a testament to Davison's inspirational heroes: Thomas Edison, Walt Disney and Henry Ford.
Thousands of school children have visited the facility and passed through the secret entrance into Inventionland, eyes wide in amazement. Educating the next generation and inspiring them to believe in their dreams is another important goal for George Davison.
?With the world?s most advanced creative facility fueling our imaginations and inspiring our vision, we can develop things that the world has never seen before.?
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*Summary:
Animation Attic
Set in prime seats above the Brainpower Ballpark, Animation Attic is where Davison?s talented team of artists works on various video and animation projects, including the upcoming Inventsons?.
Brainpower Ballpark
This is where sports-oriented projects are developed, in a stadium with a gated entrance that?s actually from a real stadium.
Concept Kitchen
Concept Kitchen is where ideas are served fresh daily. Cooking and kitchen oriented products are brainstormed and designed in this kitchen housed in a 12-foot cupcake.
Crafty Cottage
Lined with 316.5 square feet of a Velcro responsive fabric to hold tools, sewing supplies and picture frames, this is where our designers work to create craft products, sewn products and ultrasonically-welded products.
Creation Cavern
Nestled within a faux cave behind one of Inventionland?s three running waterfalls, Creation Cavern is where outdoor and sporting goods products are developed.
Creativity Cabin
Every inventor wants a package sample. In Creativity Cabin, employees engineer and build packaging for all of the products developed in Inventionland.
Discovery
The designers working on the deck of Discovery maintain their childhood imaginations to create toys and other products. This shipwrecked pirate ship features smoking cannons and a Jolly Roger.
Health and Beauty Boutique
Tucked into Inventionland is a small version of a luxurious cosmopolitan home. This is where health, beauty and bath items take shape.
Home Sweet Home
Designers bring home-oriented projects to life in this cozy two-floor environment that resembles the all-American, anywhere USA home. The patio setting on the exterior is perfect for brainstorming sessions.
Inventionland Motor Speedway
Surrounded by a nearly 150 foot 1:24 scale slot car track suspended 14 feet from the ground is Inventionland Motor Speedway. Where better to design garage and automotive products than in an actual garage? This is where the Industrial Design Excellence Award-winning Hover Creeper was designed and built. The Hover Creeper, a wheel-less innovation of the traditional automotive creeper, is a corporate project that won recognition in 2006 in the yearly design contest cosponsored by BusinessWeek magazine and the Industrial Designers Society of America.
Inventalot Castle
At the heart of Inventionland is InventalotCastle, complete with turrets and drawbridge. Davison?s senior directors of design meet here every day at a roundtable to discuss the projects their teams are working to develop. This is also where brainstorming sessions are held with visiting corporations.
Inventron 54
Within the head of a giant robot, Inventron 54, consumer electronics are engineered and built. This is here where projects that require electronic components find themselves.
Nursery Nook
Designed after ?The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe,? Nursery Nook is where juvenile products are designed. In fact, it is a 26- by 16-foot crib with a nearly 20-foot-tall baby mobile floating above it.
Pet Shack
Animals are the top priority in the Pet Shack, which features a 9-foot-tall scratching post and a saltwater aquarium. From building a better dog bowl to inventing new cat toys, this is where it happens.
Thinktank Treehouse
Suspended in a nearly 30-foot-tall tree is the Thinktank Treehouse. From this lofty vantage point, designers focus on creating tools and hardware products. This is where CEO and Founder George M. Davison III has his creative office.