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Interior Designers: VARY DESIGN
- Area: 650 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:ARCHEXIST
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Manufacturers: Chongqing Iron and Steel Company, Linye Floors, Nanhai, Nippon Paint, Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd.
Text description provided by the architects. The project is up on the 4th floor of Building A and B in Zhongshan Cultural Industry Park that is located on Zhongshan 4th Road – a street known as the most beautiful street in the city of Chongqing. The aim of the project is to create a new office form that promotes interesting and diversified interactions while maintaining high spatial efficiency.
The design is crafted based on our two definitions of what make co-working spaces viable:
Firstly, it goes beyond a mere open space for sharing, but rather a coexistence of both public and private spaces: this includes fluid shared work-spaces, as well as enclosed individual offices, meeting rooms and reading quarters.
Secondly, co-working urges for a complex mix of spaces for serious work, relaxation and play: thus requiring standard offices where individuals work in sitting and standing formations, and free office configurations where people can work lying down.
Based on these two principles, we try to reinterpret the Chinese Garden as a typology that effectively connects pathways with functional and leisure spaces, resulting in the concept of a SPACE WITHIN SPACE. The two space in Building A and B treated as two gardens have distinctive characters and are connected by a glass skybridge.
Mezzanine levels in the offices introduce a new dimension to the internal circulation, extending the office experience from two-dimensions to three dimensions.This way, the experience along the pathway interlacing these different spaces is filled with diverse views and encounters. The internal building is another key element.
Two complementary pavilions are inserted into the office, strategically placed to formulate the center of attention. These pavilions and the working space around form a dialogue between the “performer and spectator”. Sectionally, these two contrasting types of offices are placed in close proximity to one another so that users can easily switch between them. The open shared space, on the other hand, is designed as a giant multifunctional room that can accommodate functions like office, social, educational or food activities.
Wood sets the tone as the main material in the office space, interspersed with volcanic rock panels. The purpose for limiting the material palette is to accentuate the project’s function and identity as primarily a work space, and avoid the trap of over-emphasizing on leisure features and other distracting elements that tend to define many co-working spaces today. This way, the design allows users to enjoy and relax while exhibiting a high level of dedication and professionalism.
