The quietest room in the city.

The world is noisy. 

So we created some quiet corners all across the city.

Tucked into each of our neighborhood work clubs, you’ll find library spaces specially designed for deep work and focus. Whether it’s crunch time or it’s a day for dreaming up what’s next, the library is there for you when you need it most. Think of it as a gym for the mind.

As you get settled into the club, we wanted to take a moment to call out a few details you’ll bump into at our Switchyards libraries.

Custom study carrels. When designing our work clubs, we take loads of inspiration from university libraries. One of our favorite things in libraries is the study carrel. These are the double-side desks with “blinders.” A carrel invites us to carve out our own little world for a few hours when we need to go heads-down. On top of that, it reminds us just enough of our college days—aspiration with a twinge of nostalgia. 🤓 

We designed and built our own study carrels. From the exact dimensions to the maple wood details, we iterated on this piece of furniture until we got it right. It’s a focus machine.

Warm lamps and white noise. We believe in cozy comforts balanced with details that help us stay on task. Get in here, get after it, and get on with it. 

Big tables. The New York Public Library has some big tables in its main reading room. And, well, we wanted some, too. But we couldn’t find a table large enough, so we had to make them. Our custom tables always have lamps, outlets, and tons of space to spread out. Can you hear that? It’s the sound of your neighborhood working. In silence. We’ll save you a seat.

NYPL Rose Main Reading Room.

Clubpaper and pencils. The ideas you have here matter. The lists you need to tackle here matter. The jottings and scribblings that bubble up here matter. So grab a stack of our signature stationary (and one of our lil’ souvenir pencils) and catch it all.

Library rules. No calls, no meetings, no zooms. Respect the silence. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh. 🙏

We’re all working on something. In this room, everyone works. The room is full, but no one is talking. It’s a collective quiet, all with a shared, albeit anonymous goal of pushing something forward.

Focus is the new work frontier. Maybe it always has been. But with distraction overload and more of us working from home than ever before, we’re feeling it. Thank you for getting out of the house and joining us here.

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See you in the library.