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Architects: studio wok
- Year: 2019
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Photographs:Federico Villa studio
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Contractors: Rabatto, Cerea (VR), Manerba spa, Mantova, Tarkett
Text description provided by the architects. The new Milkman headquarters, a digital start-up in rapid growth with 80 employees, is located inside an industrial complex in Verona and covers about 1,000 square metres spread over two floors. In line with the philosophy of the start-up, which focuses on investment in business development and human resources, the design choices were focused on precise operations that had a low implementation cost, without sacrificing the quality of the new workspace.
The challenge in fact was to integrate and communicate with the parts of the building not affected by the intervention, such as the windows, some partitions and system elements, with custom-designed furniture and fixtures.
The work environment conceived for Milkman is informal, fluid and dynamic: the large open spaces are divided into smaller areas using custom-made partitions and walls. The tables in the workstations alternate with meeting areas and informal spaces for relaxation and socializing.
On the ground floor, a large translucent concave wall divides the operative areas, playing with the pillars of the existing structure with its shape: in the central, more transparent part, there is an indoor garden with many plants and in the extremities, where the wall is thicker, there is a printing area and a phone booth.
On the upper floor, inside a large area, mobile platforms organize the space according to the work to be done: events or company meetings with all employees or brainstorming meetings for small groups can be held in this space.
A few simple materials distinguish the offices and they have been selected to create a pleasant and homely environment. Multi-layered wood is combined with polycarbonate in various variations of transparency so that it can play with the light. The use of numerous indoor plants is also intended as an "architectural material" and interacts with the transparencies of the dividing walls.
The plants also help to create a more comfortable environment by purifying the air and reducing noise.
Curtains of different colours conceal the existing furniture and divide the space into different work areas, giving the area a domestic character and, at the same time, creating general acoustic comfort. The company's identity is also strongly defined: the social colour is re-proposed in various materials that distinguish the different surfaces.
