500px toronto

Inside the offices of photo community site 500px

The last time I visited the 500px office it consisted of a few desks in the Ryerson DMZ. There were no staff per se. The founders did pretty much everything at that early stage of the the Toronto-based company's development, from coding to social media to photo curation. Fast forward four years and the former startup has made it, now occupying a sweeping space in a heritage building at 20 Duncan Street, the former home of Syncapse.

500px toronto

The company's office now houses approximately 75 employees, but also a photo studio and and downstairs event space that can be tailored to host film screenings, conferences, art shows, and parties. With exposed brick walls, an indoor bike rack, pod-style spaces, and giant bean bag chairs, this is the type of office you'd expect from a company that's rethinking the way share and use photos.

"I had walked by the building numerous times," co-founder Evgeny Tchebotarev tells me as we chat in a quiet corner on the lower level of the office space. "When I saw that it had become available, I had my heart set on it. I moved on it very quickly."

500px toronto

There's an obvious youthful energy that exudes from this place, part of which comes from Tchebotarev's desire to create a casual office space that puts creativity and collaboration at the forefront. "I wanted to create an office where people would want to work," he explains.

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Case in point, you might see a few dogs running around at 500px. Making the workplace dog-friendly was a decision that came easily as part of the overall philosophy to avoid the pitfalls related to a work environment that's overly strict and corporate in nature. Ping pong tables also help in this regard, as do the events that regularly occur in the downstairs space.

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These little touches are likely important to a company whose identity has been in flux since multiple rounds of venture capital have lead to major growth and internal restructuring. As the company has grown, a more formal management structure has been put in place, which is a necessity for the long term health of 500px, but also a possible dampener on some of the free flowing energy that has helped shaped the company to date.

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It might be an overstatement to suggest that an office space alone can foster the creative will required to sustain the growth of a company, but it sure doesn't hurt. In that regard, 500px is ahead of the game.

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Photos by Tom Ryaboi


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