How would you build a night owl-friendly office?

Other than the obvious physical improvements mentioned here, consistently the most helpful things to me as a night owl have been:

  1. A non-judgemental culture around waking & working hours
  2. No synchronous meetings in the morning

I can put up with a lot if I don't have to talk to anyone before 11 AM.

I used to work in an office building that would turn off the HVAC after a certain time of night. If you're in a managed building, make sure to ask that it's left on

(Edit, I'd also suggest taxis or car service home if you don't have that)

San Francisco code (maybe CA?) requires that office lighting be tied to motion detectors. In my experience, if you're in the only one in late, you have to dance around the room every 15 minutes unless you want to sit in darkness. At some desks you could stay sitting and wave your arms about.

- Espresso machine that can make coffee at any time of day (vs. needing to brew an entire pot)

I disagree with black-out curtains; rather, I think you should provide options for good lighting at night. I don't see why you'd want to block out the sun during the day, unless people are sleeping there too, and even then, only in "nap rooms."

Unless you're hiring literal vampires, your devs should get some sun exposure.

On-site bathing facilities, some reasonably quiet and comfortable spots to nap without raising eyebrows helps too.

India has a well developed system of 24/7 offices used for offshore support/development. Companies like TATA, Infosys, and many others have entire campuses which include not only office space but food distribution, various utilities on-site (e.g. dry cleaning), transportation to trains/buses (since shifts are on fixed schedule).

The biggest concern in my opinion is safety. Check crime stats and crime reports where you live, might be a bit of a wake up call.

While I work during the day, I am very much a night owl. Some things I have noticed. I have also served aboard submarines.

Your post makes it sound like people working at night want it dark. This should not be the case where they are working. They should have blackout blinds in their house for sleeping during the day.

- Most building light and home light is not actually bright enough and should be brighter.

- healthy food / snack options. Not a lot of places are open at night

- Keep the building open (HVAC, ability to open doors after hours, etc)

- Have a pass down log for the people coming in at night and work with more asynchronous communications

- Give people on the night shift the power to accomplish their mission. If the authority to do something requires waking up someone on the day shift to approval, it will probably not get done on time and just be passed to the day shift

- Well lit parking lot. You want your people to feel safe, even at night. If you have the funds, a security guard at night on watch would be a good addition

Here is what I would add:

1. nice speakers for playing music.

2. a soft leather couch for relaxing.

3. digital thermostat and a good HVAC system.

4. access to a sink / fridge close by the area.

The culture is the big thing. Keep meetings to an absolute minimum. I’ve worked late nights every chance I had but some people get irate that they don’t see you in the morning but see you leave when they do (a guy has gotta eat)! Don’t hire (or at least educate) those people.

Having a view, especially at night, to just stand at the window and see the city bustling about helps too. It’s also a great indication of how late it is (no cars on the roads, probably time to go soon…)

Also get some good napping furniture, because that is super important. If for whatever reason I have to stay up until 8am to have a meeting, I’m not even going to bother going home. Also, back to that culture thing: don’t wake me up unless there is an alien invasion, or my life is literally in danger. Hmm, actually, even then, just let me sleep through it.

I think this is most important: a safe parking lot.

Indoor parking which requires identification to enter.

do ya'll not have Indian continent coworkers your team requires to have a meeting with in the morning? drives me nuts

A place to move: gym or indoor basketball / racquetball court

Let employees work from home / work remotely