Step off the elevator into Carbonite’s new Boston headquarters, and you’ll quickly learn that the force is with you.
Darth Vader’s instantly recognizable silhouette is on a sliding conference room door. A well-dressed storm trooper gazes out at a small army of software engineers from his perch on a spray-painted mural. Even the bathrooms are in on the act: Instead of men and women, the signs say “Luke” and “Leia.” Welcome to the new world of downtown office spaces. As tech firms have migrated into the staid Financial District and nearby environs during the past five years, they’ve done their best to put their unique stamps on work spaces. Goodbye, wood paneling. Hello, Yoda. Their offices have, essentially, become extensions of their brands — physical manifestations of how they view the world, and how they want the world to view them. In the case of Carbonite’s 50,000-square-foot space at the Lafayette City Center, IA Interior Architects got to work in December 2013 and wrapped up designs last spring, in time for Carbonite to move from the Back Bay to Downtown Crossing.