McClatchy New Ventures Lab
Sacramento, CA

First established in Sacramento in 1857, the McClatchy Company published The Daily Bee, the predecessor of the Sacramento Bee. McClatchy became a national newspaper publisher, but digital media accelerated the change to more visual communication. To compete, the firm created a new business model, McClatchy New Ventures Lab. Today, NVL’s team of journalists, photojournalists, videographers and technologists combine their skills to digitally communicate non-fiction stories and explore immersive AR/VR and MR technology for a global audience.

McClatchy hoped for a building with character near downtown Sacramento, the historic Sacramento Valley Train Station fit the criteria and framed the context of an uncurated office. NVL’s space reflects their acceptance of the unknown and continuous quest for discovery in their work and workplace.

The 9,000 SF workplace is a modular high-tech studio equipped for production. The interior plan encourages flexibility that flows from benching systems to multi-purpose areas, with furnishings that are lightweight or on wheels for ease of movement. The central multi-purpose room transforms to a large open film set for on-screen interviews or configures for filmed panel discussions, large community events or in-house team meetings with stackable chairs and wooden boxes that quickly stack to create stadium seating. Adjacent to the interior core, production areas include a film editing and a green screen room for AR/VR. Two private offices and a café lounge offer uninterrupted views of the Railyards.