The office building typology has been evolving towards more fluid, spatially diverse and flexible designs in order to accommodate the needs of new generations of workers and business models. This week's curated selection of Unbuilt Architecture focuses on office projects, commercial and administrative buildings submitted by the ArchDaily Community, showcasing how architects worldwide envision working environments and their contribution to the urban environment.
From the retrofit of an outdated office building in London to a commercial and administrative project shaped like an architectural promenade in Iran or an interplay of mass and void within an office building in Turkey, the following projects showcase some of the ideas shaping the office typology. These preoccupations include the necessity to update the existing building stock, an increased indoor-outdoor connection, or a move away from the generic office floor plan.
Read on to discover nine curated office designs, along with their project descriptions from the architects.
Paddington Central office building
Morris+Company's inventive and environmentally ambitious retrofit proposal for an 18,000 sq m Paddington Central office building introduces a cascade of hanging gardens to the principal elevations of a 2001 glass-and-steel building on Sheldon Square, connecting the building to an updated public realm amphitheatre space below, a bold and playful architectural counterpoint that bridges the gap between the corporate and the creative. By retaining the original structure and envelope, including a steel frame, concrete floor slabs and shaft walls, Morris+Company seeks to extend the useful life of the property.
Eram Mixed-use Complex
The design started and proceeded by forming the empty spaces of the building. The project's entrance is formed by creating an open space towards the main street and skewed in the direction of the adjacent traffic. This empty space makes the commercial section more inviting and extends to form the central void of the retail space. This extension allows natural light to pass through a large part of the commercial space and strengthens the continuity of indoor and outdoor spaces.
City Garden Layers
This project with commercial-administrative use is located on a border site between local and trans-local contexts. The main idea was made to bring the two urban and functional layers to coexist and interact. The urban layer would be a facade in the form of a stairway in the project's edge to pull pedestrians to the upper yards, which is possibly done by a layered movement in the form of creating views along the way and reaching the parks in height.
SMART 22@
Smart 22@ is a conciliatory volume that merges past and future, aiming to express the values of the city of Barcelona. It responds to the industrial neighbourhood context by combining its surroundings' materiality and chromatic range with the newest manufacturing processes. The main objective of this project is to become Spain's first smart building, gathering some of the most important sustainability certifications and being deeply respectful of the strong-rooted past of the 22@ neighbourhood.
Public Porosity
Our proposal is a collection of voids and massings. The scale of voids and buildings varies from the West to the East depending on the program, the size requirement and the proximity to the park. The small voids are designed to give people's daily life to the fullest. That fine-tuned porosity works well with the park and public programs blurring the dichotomy. At the same time, more extensive porosity is adequate for office and council. We located the largest void at the heart of the building, the Atrium. The public service program is situated in the atrium, an open space where civic workers and people can interact with each other. People can use every space and void in this building.
ES Net-Zero Office Building
Estidama Team
ES office building is designed to be part of its local and citywide environment and make a responsible contribution globally, setting the standard for office design that is Net Zero Carbon and achieves the wellbeing of its occupants at the fore. The building offers 22,200 square meters of leasable office space and shared spaces for tenants, including a meeting room, service spaces, a pantry, and restrooms. With bright colours, some green touches in the interior spaces, and warm wooden accents, the space looks and feels clean and efficient.
Sanko Headquarters development
RMJM Milano has won a competition to design the new Sanko Headquarters, one of Turkey's oldest group of companies. Their landmark design was selected among other prestigious firms for its sustainable and innovative features. The studio uses creative and innovative ways to implement sustainability in every design and project they create. It was thus crucial to utilize the local resources in the best sustainable and innovative way possible.
Shipping Co. Headquarters
Gabriel Kozlowski + Tripper Arquitetura
The headquarters building was designed as simple, mono-material boxes where office, learning and gathering spaces are concentrated. Two volumes intersect at different angles to create a generous central plaza that houses the company's social functions. The volume conforming to the front façade is elevated from the ground and cantilevered over the sloping terrain to maximize the views. This elevation provides an outdoor terrace connected to the ground level through an auditorium facing the triple-height space of the central plaza.
Yanghe Global Headquarters
The Yanghe Headquarters has been conceived of as a seamless sequence of experiences that unite all building parts and cater to executives, employees and visitors alike. The podium skin system is designed to enhance the performance characteristics of the building facade at each orientation of the primary podium building volume. The system consists of four units whose shading geometry and glass colour vary throughout the elevation to create visual action and organic patterning.
HOW TO SUBMIT AN UNBUILT PROJECT
We highly appreciate the input from our readers and are always happy to see more projects designed by them. If you have an Unbuilt project to submit, click here and follow the guidelines. Our curators will review your submission and get back to you in case it is selected for a feature.
