Twitter’s headquarters in a 1937 San Francisco building features brightly coloured furniture, padded booths, games rooms and an enormous roof terrace (+ slideshow).
Global interior firm IA Architects collaborated with local San Francisco practice Lundberg Design on the renovation of floors seven to nine of an eleven-storey Art Deco building that formerly housed a wholesale furniture store.
“Twitter’s new headquarters is the first workspace designed specifically for the company, with the intent to reflect and nurture the Twitter culture, enable creativity, and appeal directly to Twitter’s bright and passionate staff,” said IA Architects.
The offices’ large open spaces are punctuated by original concrete columns, with meeting rooms, breakout spaces, a yoga studio, fitness room and games rooms distributed across the two floors.
“The multi-storey location gives a new twist to the term ‘urban campus’ and sets the bar for all comers,” IA Architects added.
The brand’s bird motif recurs throughout the interior, as does its signature shade of blue.
Wood is also used as a unifying feature, with imagery of twigs appearing on wallpaper and real branches emerging from a round lightwell next to the lifts. The reception desk is partially clad in wood reclaimed from a bowling alley.
An expansive cafeteria with acoustic panels suspended from the ceiling in an undulating pattern also features a stage that can be used for meetings and events.
Large windows connect the cafeteria to a 2023-square-metre outdoor terrace with turfed and planted areas that overlook the city.
Responsibilities for the project were divided between Lundberg Design, which focused on the front office and dining area, and IA Design, which led the planning, layout and design of the remaining spaces.
The following project description is from IA Architects:
Twitter Global Headquarters
Twitter’s new global headquarters occupies floors 7-9 of the 11-floor Market Square complex, an iconic 1937 Art Deco landmark that once housed the San Francisco wholesale furniture mart. Until recently, the building, like the rest of its mid-Market Street neighbours, has been a casualty of urban blight.
Twitter’s occupancy marks the beginning of a long-overdue renewal for the area, which is adjacent to some of the city’s most historic venues: Davies Symphony Hall, the War Memorial Opera House, the Asian Art Museum, and City Hall.
Twitter’s desire to stay in the city where it was founded and a recently-passed San Francisco tax forgiveness measure inspired the company to commit to the area. This decision has subsequently attracted other tech companies to consider locations nearby.
Twitter’s new headquarters is the first workspace designed specifically for the company, with the intent to reflect and nurture the Twitter culture, enable creativity, and appeal directly to Twitter’s bright and passionate staff. The multi-story location gives a new twist to the term “urban campus” and sets the bar for all comers.
The space is subtly branded throughout with the use of the Twitter logo and signature blue, natural wood, and a frequent twig motif. The once cavernous open space, including the building’s original concrete columns, has become a great expanse of white benching systems, punctuated with informal seating areas, large and small conference rooms, break areas with pantries, banquettes, and easily reconfigured lounge areas, all complimented by art from local artists.
A yoga studio, fitness room, and two very popular game rooms are also part of the mix. This variety of options takes full advantage of the huge floor plates and natural light at the window walls. The overall effect is edgy yet polished, complimented by an array of art by local artists.
An enormous cafeteria and gathering space known as the Commons offers an impressive menu and includes a stage for group meetings and entertainment. It opens onto the park-like roof garden that covers almost half an acre and offers impressive skyline views – a great place to hang out by day (blankets provided for those chilly Bay Area afternoons) and a dramatic venue for nighttime events.
Using a highly integrated team approach, IA collaborated with Lundberg Design; all design decisions were made as a group. Lundberg Design was the lead on the front office area and dining facilities; IA led the overall planning, layout, and design for the rest of the project, with responsibility for construction documents and administration.
Twitter fully occupies its new space and has recently taken two additional floors; other tech companies have taken additional floors. A retail area is planned for street level, with cafes, restaurants, a health club, and grocery store.
The Brazil headquarters for retail conglomerate Walmart’s online division by Estudio Guto Requena has colour-coded levels and a terrace with a miniature golf course (+ slideshow).
Brazil firm Estudio Guto Requena aimed to create informal meeting spaces similar to those found in workplaces of technology companies on each of the floors at the Walmart.com headquarters, which occupies the sixth to tenth levels of a tower in São Paulo.
Communal areas are treated like balconies or patios, with outdoor furniture such as deck chairs, hammock-like seats and wicker swings set up for employees to socialise like neighbours.
“This is a very special project for us,” studio founder Guto Requena told Dezeen. “The very first time in Walmart history that they invested so much attention in design for their space. Pushing their newest office to have a strong identity and a cosy interior… an interesting overlap between Walmart DNA and strong Brazilian culture.”
Meeting rooms are grouped into volumes at the centre of the open-plan office space on each level, surrounded by curved walls clad with timber strips on the outside.
Surfaces, furniture and window frames in these spaces are treated in a different wood and a colour from Walmart’s branding on each floor.
The yellow floor includes the employees’ cafe, while a pool table is situated in the green zone, and a lounge with sofas and guitars is set up in one of the orange rooms.
The informal meeting spaces are located in pockets formed by the odd shape of these blocks, with carpet and furniture matching those in the adjacent rooms.
A minigolf course was designed especially for the terrace on the sixth level, where there’s also a space for yoga and a seating area in front of a stage for hosting small events, concerts and film screenings.
Here’s some more information from Estudio Guto Requena:
Walmart.com Office
Pre-design Research Methodology
The design for the Walmart.com Offices was derived from a research methodology developed by Estudio Guto Requena. Interviews and dynamic online exchanges with company employees were conducted to assess values, needs and expectations.
Three principal focal points emerged from this process: digital culture, the Walmart.com brand and brasilidade (Brazilian identity). This research also informed the choice of colours, materials, forms, programming and design concepts.
Conceptual Framework
We applied these three focal points and their commonalities to an exploration of the building’s prominent terrace and developed from this a guiding concept for the company’s headquarters: the Urban Veranda. Design choices reference the Brazilian habit of engaging outdoor areas for social interaction and relaxation.
Elements include beach chairs, the many large buildings with terraced facades, picnics (visible in the carpet patterning), the patios and balconies of Brazilian homes, and the rural habit of placing a chair in the street to enjoy the evening and chat with neighbours.
Program and Identity
The headquarters occupy five floors with over a thousand square meters each. One of the challenges of this project was to bring a more human dimension to the work environment with spaces that are welcoming and comfortable, even pleasant and informal, while maintaining professionalism and practicality. Other challenges included a lean budget and a tight deadline.
To help locate and guide visitors and employees in this large area, we created a unique visual identity for each floor through centralised cocoons that develop organically between the pillars and break the rigidity of the orthogonal space. Each floor was designed with a predominant wood type.
Pine, OSB, Eucalyptus and Masisa Zurich combine with a single colour in various shades, all chosen from the official Walmart colour palate of yellow, orange, blue and green. Different floors house individual departments, such as Business, Sales, Human Resources or Finance, and also contain lounges and decompression environments, including games rooms, film screening areas, video games and a library. These areas are to encourage the exchange of ideas and interaction between employees from different departments.
Lighting
Workstations are located near windows to take advantage of daylight, and the lighting design prioritises economy. In lounges and decompression areas indirect light is used in amber hues with decorative fixtures. Specifically created for this project is the hanging Gourd Lamp made from the fruit itself.
Traditionally, these have been used in Brazil as containers, and also as resonators in musical instruments such as the chocalho, the berimbau and the maracá. Dried gourds were painted gray inside and arrayed on a wooden support, with colorful wiring left exposed.
Furniture and Decoration
We prioritised the use of domestic furniture in both the offices and lounges, with signed pieces by the established Brazilians designers Maurício Arruda, Jader Almeida, Lina Bo Bardi, and Paulo Alves and Fernando Jaeger. We also included pieces that are part of the popular Brazilian imagination, such as rocking chairs, beach chairs, porch chairs and picnic tables.
For the production of objects and decorative elements we used images of contemporary Brazilian photographers, as well as maps, illustrations and Brazilian folk art. Skateboards and bikes reference the lifestyles of younger employees.
Greenery
Throughout the office we emphasised the use of plants, and created a green belt that runs through the peripheral spaces and contributes to the identity and warmth of the work environment.
Terrace
The outdoor area was designed for both work and relaxation. Wood decking orders the environment, together with porch furniture, shaded areas, a space for yoga and a grandstand facing the facade that can host small events, concerts and film screenings. A mini-golf course was also specially designed for the terrace.
Curving iridescent structures resembling the scaled bodies of a pair of dragons slump over the top of this new wing created by French studio Agence Jouin Manku at an office campus outside Paris (+ slideshow).
Agence Jouin Manku was asked to design a new amenities wing for the headquarters of Société Foncière Lyonnaise, France’s oldest property company, which is housed within a converted 1920s factory building on the banks of the Seine in Boulogne-Billancourt.
Entitled In/Out, the new wing comprises a curving three-storey building that revolves around a tube-shaped concrete tower. Blocks extend out from both sides of the tower and are both topped with curving structures clad with shimmering stainless-steel shingles.
“The roof is designed like a shell made of scales,” Aude Planterose of Agence Jouin Manku told Dezeen. “We can’t ignore the reference to an animal; it could be a beetle or a dragon.”
The iridescent tiles appear green when viewed straight on, but change colour from blue to purple when viewed at an angle.
“The building changes each time that you look at it,” said Planterose. “These tiles are perfect for facade or roof, and it is actually the same technique used for the slate tiles you find on all Parisian rooftops.”
Below the tiles, the glazed exterior walls are screened with vertical timber slats that vary in density depending of the lighting requirements of the rooms behind, which include cafe and restaurant facilities for the offices, as well as new boardrooms and a 200-seat auditorium.
A staircase connecting the floors of both blocks is contained within the central concrete tower, while a footbridge creates a link between the new and old buildings at first-floor level.
Agence Jouin Manku also renovated the lobby of the original building, adding new seating areas and a large oval reception deck.
This space leads through to a courtyard, where the architects have constructed a glazed pavilion supported by a lattice of branch-like wooden beams that meets the ground at only one point.
Photography is by Thierry Lewenberg-Sturm.
Here’s a project description from Jouin Manku:
IN/OUT by Agence Jouin Manku
An office “campus”, for Société Foncière Lyonnaise, an ambitious architectural project including the transformation of the lobby with the construction of a glass microarchitecture as well as the creation of a new wing.
80 years of history
Built in 1927 by the architect Adolphe Bocage, this building, a landmark of the golden age of industry, had long been used to produce telephone control units. Located on the banks of the Seine, the site, with nearly 7 acres and a 6-storey building, used to hold the lMT society (le Matériel Téléphonique). The building soon became a symbol of industrial innovation.
The site had been designed in keeping with the great principles of the Modern Movement in architecture using simple geometrical shapes, and reinforced concrete. In 1976, Thomson-CsF took control over lMT, who, at the time, employed 10 000 people.
In 1988, seventy years after its construction, Thomson Multimedia transformed the factory into offices and set up its headquarters in the building, until 2009. SFL then decided to restructure the building, aiming for it to become a benchmark in the tertiary sector, focusing on innovation as well as on wellbeing at work. It is this ambitious decision that gave birth to the major IN/OUT project.
The site’s new organisation
After our first commission to design a series of spaces for the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Paris, Société Foncière Lyonnaise (SFL), has asked us once again to embark on another adventure. This time, they have commissioned us to design a new amenities wing of their ambitious In/Out office campus, a landmark office project that is re-defining work spaces in France which houses a cafe, restaurant, board rooms, an auditorium as well as various technical spaces and the lobby, with his pavilion, of the historical building.
The IN/OUT project involves an office campus of more than 387 500 square feet. It is located on a former industrial site in Boulogne, at the West of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine River. This factory, which used to manufacture telephone tools in the 1930s, underwent a complete rehabilitation done by DTACC Architecture, such as many industrial sites in Boulogne.
Visitors enter the historical building and are welcomed into a large vast space similar to a hotel lobby. At the entrance lies a large oval desk that leads visitors to what used to be an exterior courtyard. In the courtyard one discovers a surprising micro-architecture: a glass pavilion that is held up by a series of intertwined and woven wood beams. An ethereal floating lattice which at one point swoops down and gently balances on the floor below on just one point. This new glass canopy in the central courtyard, creates a natural transition between the lobby of the historical building and the amenities wing.
This new amenities wing is nearly 40 000 sq ft.including the interiors. This building was further developed in collaboration with the engineering office TESS for the structural elements and the skin of the building and with architectural agency DTACC for the technical development and architectural execution.
The amenities wing
Agence Jouin Manku has conceived the new amenities wing (nearly 40 000 sq ft.), as well as the interior design of the wing. The building has been further developed in collaboration with the engineering office TESS and DTACC. The new wing also holds a series of services and amenities, alongside the workspaces within the ‘Bocage’ building (thus completing the IN/OUT campus). The wing holds: a 103 seats cafe, a 462 seats restaurant, a 200 seats auditorium, as well as corporate board rooms, lounges, 2 large terraces and a fitness centre.
A dynamic shape, symbol of an avant-garde building
How can workspaces in big companies be improved? What is missing? This interrogation has guided the design of the amenities wing. Agence Jouin Manku decided to create a very different atmosphere to complement the ‘Bocage’ building. This gives employees a healthy balance between formal and informal, as well as between work and play, an idea at the heart of the In/Out Campus.
The structure of the ‘Bocage’ building evokes nostalgia, professionalism and rigour. In contrast, the new wing has been conceived as a building of contemporary architecture, designed around the idea of movement and flow. Its shape has been made to create a series of intertwined spaces. The building is organised around the idea of passage: passing of people, light and air. It is also a place which evokes movement, production, action and dynamism.
The concrete heart: the centre of the building
The building is organised around a central tower, made of bush hammered concrete, which holds all vertical circulation. The choice to use concrete for the centre of the building was to create a coherence and dialogue with the neighbouring ‘Bocage’ building, which is made of the same material and clearly shows its original industrial character. Two wings revolve and wrap around the central tower, but they never meet. Their architectural lines are softer and each wing is a curved form, made of curved glass and vertical wood cladding. The spaces between the concrete centre and the wood wings are filled with glass, which allows light to penetrate almost everywhere in the building, vertically or horizontally.
On the outside, the density of the vertical wood cladding increases and decreases, depending on its position, and which indoor space it corresponds to. The pattern starts out smoothly, then its texture, created by adding chamfers, changes. These edges catch light differently and create a sense of depth on the facade. Inside, the main materials are wood, bush hammered concrete, plaster and curved glass. The curved wood that wraps a large part of the interior adds to the sense of warmth, while the simple use of glass and concrete add a crisp modernity to the project. A footbridge connects the two buildings. This bridge, made of white painted steel and wood, makes access easy between the two buildings, and acts as a symbolic link betweenthe two architectural signatures, and the birth of a common project.
An architecture inspired By nature: an inside out and outside in design
Inspired by the Saint-Cloud park, the Seine river and the lush nature just close to the site, the amenities pavilion has been designed to allow these elements to penetrate the building, as well as to create spaces that would allow one to enjoy the gardens and terraces, created as an extension of the building. The flowing shapes of the project recall the movements of nature. To underline this idea, the roof of the wing has been designed as a coloured envelope wrapping the building. The coloured stainless steel tiles were chosen for their particular iridescent character. In front view, the tiles are green, but their colour changes as the angle and light move. This gives the building a dynamic and always changing character, echoing the variations in the sky and sunlight.
The insides
The interior design and furniture have been thought out as a continuation of the outside lines of the building. While the central concrete core holds the curved staircase that links the various levels of the building, each level opens out on spaces filled with light: simple yet warm spaces, spaces that open out on terraces and gardens, as well as spaces that invite one to discover the next room. The circulation is therefore fluid, and the connection between each space is harmonious. Employees can thus enjoy each space, and will always be invited to discover the next one.
The transformation of the lobby: a micro architecture at the heart of the ‘Bocage’ building
On the outside, the ‘Bocage’ building still looks like an industrial fortress from the 1930s. Yet inside, gently perched in the space of the old atrium, Agence Jouin Manku has designed a ‘soft’ space, filled with light, which is one of their trademarks.
Visitors enter the building and are welcomed into a vast space, similar to a hotel lobby. at the entrance lies a large oval desk, which leads visitors to what used to be an indoor atrium. In the newly created courtyard, one discovers a surprising micro-architecture: a glass canopy, held up by a series of intertwined wood beams, an ethereal floating lattice, which at one point swoops down and gently balances above the floor.
This structural frame was a complex element that required the expertise of TESS, an engineering firm with whom Agence Jouin Manku regularly works.
This lobby is the new heart of the ‘Bocage’ building. It is a central meeting point between different spaces. It also invites visitors or employees to have a break. Both simple in its design and complex in its realisation, the glass pavilion foretells the bold amenities wing designed by the agence Jouin Manku.
The vertical circulation spaces
The other major architectural work is the transformation of the office spaces, especially through the vertical circulation spaces and service points, which now stand on the inside corners of the courtyard.
This has created new circulation spaces around the lobby. In the upper floors, natural light now floods largely into the workspaces. Corridors and stairs are highlighted by a strong yellow colour. This creates a contrast with the rest of the building and encourages one to use the stairs as well as the elevators.
Conclusion
IN/OUT is an ambitious architectural project by DTaCC architecture and agence Jouin Manku; together, they created two unique buildings for SFL. The campus offers a new approach to workspace based on the ideas of sharing, wellbeing and collective activities. The renovation and construction have greatly improved the campus’ amenities, for the benefit of the future users. This project also transforms a typical scenery of the Seine river.
News: Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have designed a 56-storey cylindrical skyscraper as part of a nine-hectare masterplan proposed for London’s Canary Wharf.
The residential tower is one of five new buildings proposed at Wood Wharf, the eastern end of Canary Wharf, in the first phase of a major mixed-used development submitted for planning approval today by London architecture firm Allies and Morrison.
Herzog & de Meuron and London studio Stanton Williams are working on the three residential buildings of the proposal, providing a total of 884 homes, while Allies and Morrison has designed two office blocks targeted at creative media, technology and telecommunications companies.
Later phases of the masterplan aim to surround the new buildings with a network of public squares and parks, as well as over 100 shops, restaurants and cafes at street level. Additional buildings will accommodate education and healthcare facilities, while more residential accommodation will bring the total of new homes up to 3100.
George Iacobescu of property developer Canary Wharf Group commented: “This is an exciting new project for Canary Wharf Group which represents the continued redevelopment of east London almost 30 years after the original transformation of Canary Wharf began.”
“The revised masterplan will create a strong and complementary mix of uses, and provide new homes, offices and retail spaces set within a network of streets and public spaces, designed to support the social life of new residents, employees and the surrounding community,” he added.
If planning approval is granted, construction of the phase one buildings is set to commence next year, with completion scheduled for 2017.
Here’s the full press release from Canary Wharf Group:
Canary Wharf Group submits new Planning Application for Mixed Use Urban Neighbourhood on Canary Wharf’s Eastern Edge
» Revised masterplan by Allies and Morrison will broaden Canary Wharf’s appeal as a working and living urban district
» New Wood Wharf neighbourhood will be defined by a network of high quality parks and public squares with a kilometre of dock-edge walkways
» The new neighbourhood will offer a range of homes from park-side townhouses and affordable housing to luxury penthouses in some of London’s tallest residential buildings designed by world-class architects
» New offices will appeal to a range of tenants but with a focus on creative media, technology and telecommunications
» Over 100 new shops, restaurants and cafes are planned at street level that will attract a range of new concepts and products
» The Masterplan provides for: – 3,100 residential units – 240,000 sqm (2.57 million sq.ft.) (GIA) of commercial offices – 31,000 sqm (340,000 sq.ft.) (GIA) of shops, cafes and restaurants – 3.6 hectares (8.9 acres) of interconnected public spaces
» Illustrative design information for Phase I to include 884 residential units in 3 buildings designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Stanton Williams totalling 100,379 sq. m (1,080,179 sq ft) (GIA); and 2 office buildings totalling over 20,000 sq. m (216,000 sq.ft.) (GIA) designed by Allies and Morrison. All three architectural practices are internationally acclaimed and award winning firms of the highest calibre (see notes below).
– Planning application submitted today to London Borough of Tower Hamlets – Extensive public consultation has been undertaken over the last 12 months – Details can be found at www.shapingwoodwharf.com – New images of development released alongside revised plans
Continuing the redevelopment of East London
Canary Wharf Group plc (“Canary Wharf Group”) today announces that it has submitted planning applications for, a new 9.23 hectares (22.8 acres) mixed-use urban neighbourhood immediately east of Canary Wharf in central London. The new masterplan proposes the development of more than 3,000 homes and over 240,000 sq. m (2.57 million sq.ft.) (GIA) of commercial offices offering a range of floor plates that will appeal to a wide array of occupiers including the fast expanding TMT sector.
Commenting on the plans, Sir George Iacobescu, Chairman and Chief Executive of Canary Wharf Group plc, said:
“This is an exciting new project for Canary Wharf Group which represents the continued redevelopment of East London almost 30 years after the original transformation of Canary Wharf began. The revised masterplan will create a strong and complementary mix of uses, and provide new homes, offices and retail spaces set within a network of streets and public spaces, designed to support the social life of new residents, employees and the surrounding community. It is a reflection of the demand we are seeing in the market, and is an opportunity for us to further expand the appeal of Canary Wharf by creating a new and exciting mixed use neighbourhood at Wood Wharf which will offer greater diversity and amenity and a richer urban fabric for the fast emerging City Centre of Canary Wharf.”
A range of house types are proposed for 3,100 residential units, including town houses and mid and high-rise apartment buildings. Housing tenure will include private housing for sale and rent and intermediate and affordable housing for rent. The planned offices will be capable of accommodating a wide range of company sizes and types, in line with the mixture of demand we anticipate including the expanding TMT sector in East London. This vibrant, new development is expected to create over 17,000 new jobs, of which we expect around 3,500 will be taken by local residents.
Building a Community
The broad range of public spaces, homes, offices and shops is designed to offer a rich and diverse working and living environment. This diversity is a key element of the new Masterplan. The shops and restaurants will include a range of names new to London to further expand Canary Wharf’s broad retail offer. The Masterplan provides for two hotels and serviced apartments. The scheme also includes 3.6 hectares of interconnected public spaces with two squares and two parks, one based on a typical London square, the other lining the southern dock edge of Wood Wharf with 1km of dockside boardwalks.
Plans for Wood Wharf include a two-form entry primary school, a multi-purpose sports hall and a healthcare facility. The highly successful Arts and Events Programme at Canary Wharf will be expanded and will offer a range of cultural activities and events in new venues and the planned public spaces at Wood Wharf.
Transport considerations include the installation of London Cycle Hire bicycles, a new bus route through the site and improved pedestrian connectivity to London Underground, DLR & Crossrail. Two car clubs are planned along with parking for 1,100 spaces.
On the importance of public space, Robert Maguire, Project Director for Wood Wharf said:
“With an extensive new network of public spaces and water’s edge boardwalks, the Wood Wharf masterplan places high quality public space at the heart of the design process. The principle achievement of the masterplan – the ‘glue’ which holds the neighbourhood together – will always be its well-considered network of streetscapes, squares, parks and water spaces. We are building a community that will both support, and be supported by, the success of Canary Wharf and the 110,000 people that work and visit Canary Wharf each day.”
Next Steps
Herzog & de Meuron and Stanton Williams have been appointed to work alongside Allies and Morrison in designing the first phase buildings within Wood Wharf. If planning permission is granted, construction is expected to start in Q4 2014 with the first buildings to be completed in 2017.
News: architecture firm Foster + Partners and designer Thomas Heatherwick have unveiled images of a finance centre they are collaborating on, which is currently under construction in Shanghai.
The 420,000 square-metre Bund Finance Centre will feature two 180 metre-high office towers, alongside a mix of shops and restaurants, a boutique hotel, and an art and culture centre.
Located at the end of Shanghai’s popular waterside street The Bund, the complex is intended by Foster + Partners and Heatherwick Studio to connect the Chinese city’s old town with its financial district.
“Sitting at the gateway to Shanghai’s old town, on the river bank where boats would arrive from the rest of the world, this is an extraordinary site which stood unoccupied for many years,” said Thomas Heatherwick.
“In filling this last empty site on Shanghai’s famous Bund, the concept is inspired by China’s ambition not to duplicate what exists in the rest of the world but to look instead for new ways to connect with China’s phenomenal architectural and landscape heritage,” he added.
The art and culture centre will be located at the centre of the masterplan and will feature exhibition galleries and a performance venue based on traditional Chinese theatres. According to the designers, this structure will be “encircled by a moving veil” that can be adapted to suit changing activities inside.
Foster + Partners’ head of design David Nelson commented: “The project has given us an exciting opportunity to create a glamorous new destination, as well as a new series of spaces that create a major addition to the public realm, right in the heart of historic Shanghai.”
The glazed facades of the buildings will be complemented with bronze details, while the edges will be finished with strips of granite that taper as they rise.
Swedish designers Toki Drobnjakovic and Per Sundberg have renovated an underground strip club in Stockholm to create a workplace where walls are embellished with concrete set against bubble wrap (+ slideshow).
A staircase covered in hexagonal concrete leaves, a wall of plants and a torso-shaped sculpture are just some of the additions to the former Blue Star bar, which is now named Studioverket, and functions as both the designers’ studio and as a flexible co-working space for freelancers.
Using the working title Subterranean Concrete Orgy, Drobnjakovic and Sundberg teamed up with concrete manufacturer Butong to produce the new interior elements, and also enlisted the help of architecture student Noa Ericsson and movie producer Erik Liss.
Each concrete structure was cast inside a sandwich of bubble wrap, which could be folded during the setting process to create irregular shapes.
“We use high-strength EXM concrete,” explained Butong’s Lars Höglund. “After pressing, the panels can be shaped for approximately one hour. The leaf-thin layers of concrete where bubbles have connected can either be removed for transparency or kept for translucency.”
For the entrance lobby, the team added rectangular concrete panels across the walls, before wrapping the central staircase with overlapping layers of curving concrete hexagons.
Seeds were sown into the circular pockets of another concrete structure, creating a wall of plants and herbs that was hung inside one of the largest studios, while the opposite wall presents an undulating concrete surface named Sound Wave.
As a nod to the history of the building, Liss also cast concrete over a mannequin’s head to produce a sculpture designed to look like a girl trapped in a wall.
The final touches were a series of concrete pendant lamps that hang down from the ceiling of one of the rooms.
Two young designers in architecture and sound, Per & Toki, nourished a long held dream for an office/studio environment to call their own & recently it came true when Studioverket took over the leasing contract from infamous “Blue Star”. Concrete producer, Butong, was contracted to realise Studioverket’s concept of “homogeneous diversity” using Sealed-Air bubble in a special casting process. New elements were produced and old projects were re-designed & tweaked for their new purpose at this basement location in bustling Stureplan area.
The sequencing of space & placement of elements was determined by the two freshly baked entrepreneurs – Butong was then to propose design solutions. Starting with the stairs, the space needed to make a distinct division between exterior & interior space. Architecture student Noa Ericsson was asked to design for the subjects to forget that they have gone underground.
Spatial formation and the relation to the cold light from the vertical garden aim at mirroring the cave typology. The entrance, with its dimmed light, is the darkest space and further in where people work regularly, a lighter environment is created.
The four nodes of the project are connected by intricate moiré lighting effects, caused by small & sharp light sources behind transparent parts of the material, which are turned on when suitable for the setting.
While the wall quickly found its form & expression, the ceiling had to take a few turns before finding its finished state. Noa, first influenced by traditional “kurbits”, gradually broke the elements down to hexagonal tiles. By manipulating the hexagons bend & axis parameters in production and by flipping & rotating the tiles while installing – freedom of organic design was achieved.
On the vertical surfaces, the translucent layers of concrete are removed for an organic pattern of transparency, made possible by the moiré distribution of holes. The wall is also an acoustic barrier as acoustic foam behind the panels absorb street sound, preventing it from spilling down into the lounge.
The graphic organic of the entrance space has its continuation in the truly organic green-wall. A mix of seeds & plant cuttings were used. The seedlings break their way through the ultra-thin layers of concrete in the hollows & are root spread in the underlying substrate, giving a dynamic vegetation. The 1.2m x 3.6m wall is a re-designed bench from a temporary project & it is an inversion of a stone hedge – letting vegetation root in the stones, rather than in between.
Lots of herbs, chillies & other edible plants are grown to be used for drinks or as spice at company events. Tenants and visitors are also invited to plant seeds, available beside the wall. Hopefully this will give create a sort of connection between people and place.
Opposite from the vertical garden a sculptural element defines the space between the two pieces. As a reference to the adjacent music studio – the shape is an illustration of sound waves, placed frozen on the wall.
Material sample
As this used to be a shady porn shop/erotic bar, the more expressive “Girl in the wall” has found its fitting home close by the emergency exit. This one of a kind piece was created by movie producer Erik Liss, by simply casting Butong on a manikin as he stumbled through the workshop in search for a new style in fashion.
Site: Studioverket, Stockholm, Stureplan Concept: Studioverket Studioverket Team: Toki Drobnjakovic, Per Sundberg Design: Noa Ericsson, Erik Liss Details, Design: Butong Butong Team: J-C Violleau, Andreas Berkebo, Lars Höglund
Movie: in our final exclusive interview from Inside Festival, Emre Açar of Alatas Architecture & Consulting explains how the Turkish studio converted a dark, narrow nineteenth-century house in Istanbul into a light office space.
The building required significant structural reinforcement to make it earthquake-resistant, but Açar says the key to the success of the project was getting enough daylight inside it.
“The [original] windows were so small and the central parts [of the building] were completely dark because of these small windows,” he explains. “We needed to find some solutions to create lighter spaces.”
Alatas Architecture & Consulting chose to preserve the nineteenth-century wooden front of the house, but added a second set of glass doors to the entrance to allow light into the building while keeping the elements out.
“The main entrance doors, these historical wooden doors, are always open,” Açar says. “We have [added] two double glass doors to give us some connection from [to outside to] the interior .”
The back of the building was altered much more dramatically, with the addition of floor-to-ceiling windows and a glass-roofed extension, which houses the main meeting room. Glass panels in the floor of this room in turn allow daylight to pass into the server room below.
“We made the top part of the building completely from glass,” Açar says. “With this glass roof we tried to provide lighter spaces inside.”
The architects also added a completely new spiral staircase and elevator shaft made of glass through the middle of the building, which dissipates light from a skylight above it.
To make the building feel less narrow, Alatas Architecture & Consulting added mirrors to the bright white interior walls.
“The building’s width is just 5 metres,” Açar says. “It was like a tunnel. We wanted to make [the building seem] like it continues on the other side, so we used reflective materials. The workers feel like they are in a bigger building.”
This movie was filmed at Inside Festival 2013, which took place at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore from 2 to 4 October. The next Inside Festival will take place at the same venue from 1 to 3 October 2014. Award entries are open February to June 2014.
Emre Acar of Alatas Architecture and Consulting. Copyright: Dezeen
The central staircase inside this office in Mexico City by architecture studio Goko is made up of different sections, including some that look like they are upside down.
Goko cut through the floor plates of the four-storey office for marketing agency Map to create a staircase that would animate the building and encourage more interaction between staff.
Constructed from a combination of brick, concrete and timber, the staircase was designed to look different on each storey, particularly between the ground and first floors where the climb is broken up into three stages.
“The concept was to attach three different parts to each other as a whole, in order to have a different angle or point of view of the element on each level,” architect Christopher Koehn Martinez told Dezeen.
“Although there’s a main elevator in the building, the staircase was designed to be the central feature. You have to use it to connect and interact with other people, and it provides a little workout,” he added.
The rest of the interior was designed with an open-planlayout that features simple colours and materials, including polished concrete floors, white walls and glazed partitions.
Workspaces are arranged in clusters on every floor and each employee is responsible for looking after a plant.
Lockers offer places for employees to store their belongings, plus cafe and bar areas are located on the ground floor.
“Our mission was to provide employees an alternate space where work and pleasure could exist,” said the architect.
Here’s a project description from Goko:
“Agile Working” – The luxury of freedom
Today’s technology has enabled us to work anytime and anywhere. Performance is no longer determined by time spent on the office but by results. The trend is that less individual cubicles exist and more often we see companies encouraging open spaces that allow greater interaction and creativity.
Our goal: to have more efficient workers; that hours spent at work where more productive and enhance a better quality of life. Satisfied with the results of the previous project we did, our client chose to take this same experience and apply it to their new offices: a marketing firm ready to take it’s workers to the next level.
Our mission was to provide employees an alternate space where work and pleasure could exist. Informal working areas on each level, a cafeteria to interact , open bars where they could work with each other or with customers. To work while doing something nice like having a coffee, a work lunch while listening to music, to play ping pong or to work on a living room alike space.
The Vertical Heart
We seized 4 floors in an office building connecting the four levels with a main internal staircase. Inside we drilled each level’s slabs and created a central vertical volume as the core: a connection between all company’s levels, spaces and areas.
Through this we centralised all company’s access creating interaction between employees. Encouraging exercise that generates endorphins reflected in mood and user performance .
Polished concrete floors, white walls, clear glasses and the apparent slab on a light grey tone resulted in a much larger space feeling. We also used a series of pendant lights as the only element of indirect illumination creating ideal work light quality. Informal working. Fun at work.
Living Rooms, wall-talkers, personalised plants & ping pong
As a visual key to the central staircase, we created informal working areas on each level: a waiting room with lockers for each user. The idea of the living rooms was to create a flexible space to share ideas among employees, store their belongings in lockers or to receive a client with less formality .
With a special paint, we took the perimeter walls as a canvas for drawing, writing and translating ideas into them. The divisions between the few office cubicles were made with two clear crystals and a white inner film in order to draw and write on both sides. With this we helped visualise an idea and facilitate its realisation .
We consider living vegetation an indispensable element in the offices. As the only element of colour, we customised a small potted plants design, assigning each member of the company with its own plant, so that each individual is responsible for watering it and keeping it alive. This idea helped us to create an action of responsibility and consciousness.
A ping pong table lies in the middle of the creative area as an element of fun and distraction to help achieve best ideas at the right time.
The offices are no longer merely a corporate place with a cold atmosphere, which is why we injected energy to create a living office.
Project: Map Marketing Offices Design: Goko MX (Christopher Koehn, Jose Martín González) Colaborator: Isaac Guzmán Date: February 2013 Location: South Mexico City Design and construction: Goko MX
Le photographe suédois Carl Kleiner parvient toujours à surprendre le public avec ses œuvres. Avec cette nouvelle série « Offices » réalisée pour le magazine Wallpaper, l’artiste nous offre des bureaux infinis, jouant avec talent sur les codes et les dispositions du mobilier. A découvrir en images dans la suite de l’article.
Movie: Julia Borghesi of design studio Hassell discusses the hybrid aesthetic of advertising agency Clemenger BBDO’s office in Sydney, which topped the office category at last month’s Inside Festival.
Clemenger BBDO‘s Sydney office has an informal layout with open offices and meeting areas.
“We were given a brief to connect the teams together,” Borghesi says. “So we really wanted to focus on the people and the work that they produce.”
“There are areas for relaxation, there are areas for collaboration and there are areas for individual work.”
The client had a strong idea of what the office should look like, Borghesi says.
“Clemenger came to us with an ideal aesthetic, combining this industrial loft aesthetic with Scandinavian detailing,” she explains. “The space we ended up with quite nicely combines those two visual elements: the New York loft with Scandinavian design.”
She continues: “You can see [the loft influence] throughout the centre of the space. The timber panels on the ceiling, also the floorboards. The Scandinavian design really comes in through the loose furniture and the joinery detailing.”
The office features a large, open meeting area in the centre of the space.
“It becomes a pivotal point where the executive team from other areas of the building can actually congregate and strategise within the space,” she says. “It’s also a space that’s highly visible to the staff as well.”
Borghesi believes that creating an open office environment has been successful. “Every time I visit there, the energy and the vibe in the place is amazing,” she says. “It’s really inspiring.”
This movie was filmed at Inside Festival 2013, which took place at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore from 2 to 4 October. The next Inside Festival will take place at the same venue from 1 to 3 October 2014. Award entries are open February to June 2014.
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