World's Coolest Offices: Your Picks

Headquarters: Lucerne, Switzerland

In 1965, Bertil Hult founded EF Education First, the world's largest private education business, which specialized in language training, educational travel, academic degrees, and cultural exchange. The company, which is run by Philip and Alex Hult, has 400 schools and offices around the world, including a cozy, four-story outpost in Shanghai, pictured here. EF's in-house architect, Fiona Kennedy, spearheaded the design, which employs smooth, curvilinear lines and warm neutrals, including this spiral staircase with recessed lights. Notably, organic-feeling accents like the plant wall and hardwood flooring make it hard to believe the space was once a gymnasium.

Location: Indianapolis

Artists David Young and Jeff Laramore founded Young & Laramore Advertising in 1983. Paul Knapp came on board as CEO 16 years ago, and in 2005, the 48-person company moved into P.S. 9, a defunct public school that dates back to the late 19th Century.

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Pictured here is a 23-foot-tall painted steel sculpture designed by Young. At its widest point, the towering structure has a 9-foot-wide platform engineered to comfortably--and safely--hold as many as 65 employees.

Location: Beltsville, Maryland

Cloud software provider Vocus makes it easy for employees to go from a day at the office, to a day at the spa. The company's bustling 100,000-square-foot office is inspired by the architectural principles of New Urbanism, a design movement from the 1980s that promotes shared, centralized spaces.

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In the case of Vocus, which was founded by Rick Rudman and Bob Lentz, that means recreating many of the best elements of an urban downtown--a gym and spa, coffee house, arcade, record shop, and candy store--all within walking distance of a cubicle.

Location: Stoneham, Massachusetts

In 2007, former colleagues Bryan and Vinnie Lewis (who are unrelated, but were friends) founded Tenon Tours, a company that designs and operates group travel packages largely to Ireland and Scotland. The 12-person business is based in Massachusetts, but keeps its focus in mind with an Irish pub-themed conference room and lighting sconces shaped like streetlamps.

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The decor emulates the feeling of an Irish village. To underscore the friendly and relaxed atmosphere, the pub is marked with a golden Gaelic phrase, "Tóg go bog é" or "Take it easy."

Tenon Tours was No. 200 on the 2012 Inc. 500 | 5000.

Location: Toronto

Laurence Metrick founded his creative advertising agency, The Metrick System, in 1991. The company's innovative headquarters features robin's egg blue golf carts for zipping through the space at a moment's notice, and stationary aluminum trailers that service as intimate meeting rooms.

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The studio meets the work requirements of staff with open cubicles and workstations, and is also outfitted with sound studios and production equipment for recording. In this space, fresh flowers, bright lighting, and glass dividers--and, well, let's not forget the Airstream trailers--create an atmosphere that brings the outdoors inside.

Headquarters: Carlsbad, California

Professional sports are about blood, sweat, tears, and adrenaline, but California-based business, SKLZ, brings an element of cool composure to the field. Former restaurant executive John Sarkisian founded SKLZ in 2002. The company, which was also No. 1582 on the 2012 Inc. 5000, develops and markets athletic training products for serious athletes across a wide range of sports.

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Pictured here is SKLZ's sleek, industrial reception area. The front door, which swivels back and forth to open, is one of the office's many inventive features, including glass walls that double as whiteboards and conference rooms that are elevated on iron stilts.

Location: Baltimore

Ed Callahan and Matt Doud founded award-winning advertising agency, Planit, in 1992. With a bevy of clients including Under Armour and National Public Radio, employees seeking a bit of downtime can refocus on the corner pocket of an orange custom pool table near their workstations, or chill on the comfy couches in the lounge. For those who choose to imbibe, a full-service bar makes for a convenient in-house happy hour.

Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Husband-and-wife team Angiemille Latorre and Dana Montenegro launched their marketing consulting company SeriouslyCreative in 2006. The founders describe their 4,000-square-foot headquarters as "Google's office meets Dr. Seuss."

With chalkboard walls, Star Wars toys, beanbag chairs, board games, and Play-Doh peeking out from every corner, the characterization is an apt one. SeriouslyCreative spreads the zany love by renting parts of its office to companies that also value the idea of work-through-play (and that are sick of the same old hotel-drab conference rooms).

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

In 2003, Vishen Lakhiani founded Mindvalley, a digital publishing company that specializes in self-help, motivational, and personal-growth content in new media. The company employs more than 100 people from 31 different companies, resulting in a mixture of cultural references from Superman in flight to a googly-eyed dragon on a marble table.

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The office also sports a whirl of design elements reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, including black-and-white checkered marble floors, fans with daisy-petal blades, and cubbyholes shaped like honeycombs.

Editors' Pick

Location: Parsippany, New Jersey

Pinnacle Foods is a producer and distributor of grocery store staples from labels including Duncan Hines, Birds Eyes, and other specialty brands. The 4,300-person company, headed by CEO Bob Gamgort, is based in Parsippany, New Jersey, where a well-lit atrium known as the "living room" awaits employees and visitors. What's that abovehead? It's not just a lamp, nor just an object d'art: It's also the company's logo.

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Editors' Pick

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Seen here, the communal space is full of clean lines and bold geometric shapes. Toward the center of the room, an interior hearth fireplace adds an element of intimacy to this sprawling headquarters. Bonus: All of the cupboards and cabinets you see on the sides of the room are part of a "Grab N Go" pantry and food-service area.

Contest Winner by Most Facebook "Likes"

Location: San Francisco

You can't miss the buzz this honeybee-colored office radiates. The striking and dominant yellow was a branding move by Pocket Change, which was founded by Ari Mir and Amos Elliston, both veterans of another start-up called ShopZilla. And employees seem to have gladly embraced the sunny hue. According to Mir, his colleagues snap up interesting yellow design items whenever they encounter them. Case in point: This golden moose head, which an employee found online.

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Contest Winner by Most Facebook "Likes"

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Pocket Change's office also brings street art indoors with a 42-foot-long mural created by a local artist. It only seems apt for a space that used to be an art gallery. What's more, employees seeking downtime can huddle in the communal picnic table area or make use of the custom bar and beer tap.

--By Judith Ohikuare & Marcia Duprat