Have quirky names for office meeting rooms gone too far?

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Richard Branson’s Virgin Group unveiled its new London headquarters last November at Whitfield Studios, a former music studio where the Rolling Stones recorded. Perhaps it was that rock’n’roll heritage that inspired the company to dub the highest conference room in the building “Miles High Club”.

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It is one of many rooms in the premises that “celebrate Virgin’s playful spirit”, the company told the Financial Times. Other names inspired by song titles include Never Mind the Bollocks and Zig Ah Zig Ah.

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Virgin added it had “never been afraid to shake things up”, but such quirky nomenclature is far from unusual in today’s workplace. It is now hard to find a company — especially in the creative or tech sectors — that does not have some kind of innovative system for naming rooms.

“People have gotten very cute over the years,” said Jeremy Myerson, a professor emeritus at the Royal College of Art and expert in workplace design. “But it’s a serious issue, because in large office campuses with literally hundreds of meeting rooms, you’ve got to have a way of giving them names.”

Take Grindr, an LGBTQ dating app that has rooms named after famous gay bars, queer icons and users’ favourite emojis — yes, including the aubergine. Just Eat for Business makes puns from takeaways and movies, such as Texas Chainsaw Moussaka or Pitta Pan.

The BBC’s London headquarters uses the broadcaster’s most famous characters, such as Del Boy or Doctor Who. Workers at Dr Martens can meet in genres including Garage, a nod to the bootmaker’s association with musical subcultures, while at Mac it is lipstick shades, according to the companies’ social media. Top law firm Mishcon de Reya is aspirational, calling its rooms after lawyers such as Nelson Mandela. The FT uses the names of currencies, which means colleagues can often be found searching for Ngultrum or Peso.

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The practice grew from a reimagining of the office since the 1990s, as organizations began to regard workplaces not just as buildings but physical manifestations of their values. “It’s about brand and storytelling without splashing your logo all over the place,” said architect Matthew Blain, who co-leads on workplaces at design studio Hassell.

That was supercharged by the 2010s Silicon Valley talent wars, when companies sold themselves as fun workplaces with quirky features such as nap pods, ping pong tables and rooms named after memes. Google in particular made a point of sharing its desirable work environments, sparking competition between offices to offer “something bigger and better or different”, said Blain.

Not all themes are associated with the business at hand. OpenAI’s San Francisco office has a floor where rooms take the names of dog breeds. Beauty brand Glossier opted for “inspiring” women such as Dolly Parton. “Yes, we casually say, ‘We’re meeting in Oprah in 15,’ or, ‘Let’s go to Cher to talk,’” the company confesses in a TikTok video. Others are inside jokes.

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Some companies go further and carry names through to themed interior design. Airbnb, for example, designs rooms to look like popular properties on its platform.

Names can help engage employees, for example if they are put to a staff-wide vote, or reference company culture. Design technology company Figma called a room Racoon Feet in reference to an icebreaker question asked of new joiners (“Would you rather have muffins for hands or raccoons for feet?”). Creative studio Uncommon names its rooms after drum and bass legends such as ShyFX or Grooverider, because the genre is a favourite among staff.

This has become more appealing as employers try to woo workers back to the office, said Micah Remley, chief executive of workplace management software company Robin. “Room names are such an important signal that [management] want people to feel comfortable leaving their homes and commuting to an office.”

But the practice can backfire, especially when clients or colleagues are not in on the joke. Remley said Robin dropped its Star Wars themed boardroom after realizing the negative connotations of “Death Star”. One Cambridge-based engineering company had to ditch city-themed rooms after clients queried why workers were calling from “Tokyo” or “New York”. And Uber swapped its “War Room” for a “Peace Room” amid allegations of a toxic culture, Bloomberg reported in 2017.

In fact, Myerson thinks creative naming may have reached a peak. “Increasingly, if you look at the research, people want to come to work in a serious environment,” he said. “I’ve no problem with creative names…[but] there are certain names that are pure David Brent.”

© 2025 The Financial Times Ltd

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