The colorful and flexible workplace for Relaxound offers employees a choice of the spaces where they want to do their work – as well as giving them a strong sense of unified purpose – feeling good about being part of a team. The design is based on social contact – collaborating in real time and space - but also refuge from social contact – for concentrating or withdrawing to do focused work. The office for Relaxound makes a strong argument for the importance of physical office space to a company’s collective culture – even after we have gotten used to the liberties and trust associated with working from home.
In order to create a sense of shared identity, a new mezzanine was introduced perpendicular to an existing one to together overlook a double-height studio space. In the areas with lower ceilings, very small rooms with sliding doors create spaces for employees to work alone or in small groups with acoustical privacy. A variety of other spaces offer employees a sense of shared openness while providing opportunity for refuge.
All building materials are used in a way to make one aware of the nature of the materials used – for example, through-dyed MDF is blue all the way through, so when you cut it, It shows the same color inside as out. Planes of MDF, exposed wood beams and columns, and the exposed steel of the mezzanine structure become an interlocked system of walls and doors for the small acoustically isolated rooms. These small rooms are designed for acoustical control: separation between rooms is made from thin but massive layers of MDF; echo is controlled by sound absorbing materials (fabrics, felt, and open cell aluminum); all gaps between spaces are sealed to prevent the transfer of sound from room to room. To prevent the sense that people are hiding behind closed doors, large glass walls connect employees visually to each other – even when they need acoustical privacy.
Color and light are used to create spaces of different qualities: small spaces are darker and cozier and the large space is brighter and louder. In the social areas where people come together, bright color is used - but in the general studio space the palette is simple and reduced, and not filled with visual noise. The small spaces are dark and atmospheric and might invite you to work in a different way. The design intends to be coherent but varied: the idea is to have real atmospheric choices.
Relaxound is a company that makes products to introduce relaxing natural sounds to physical environments - and its physical office space fulfills a collective and symbolic purpose that a virtual office cannot do by itself. To work in a relaxed way is part of the brand: so integrating choices of formal and informal spaces to do work, to socialize, to chill, to work in a cheerful and colorful place, to eat together - these are all part of how the office works.
“The design of Relaxound’s workspace is intended to address why employees would want to come to their office at all.
“This workplace is based on social contact – collaborating in real time and space - but also refuge from social contact – for concentrating or withdrawing to do focused work.”
“We love spaces within spaces, the blurring of inside and outside, unconventional color combinations, and material contrasts.”
Working in a relaxed way is part of the brand, so its not just desks and meeting rooms – but also lounges and dining areas and informal settings.”
“The design combines the effectiveness of a good work place with the comfort of a home or hotel.”
Ester Bruzkus Architekten was founded in Berlin in 2002 and has extensive international experience in design at all scales: from the design of furniture, special apartments and offices, to international cinemas, restaurants and hotels.
We like working with straight lines, precise planning, material differences, and plenty of surprises.
We like contrasts of thick and thin, sharp and soft, curved and straight, rough and smooth, common and opulent, colorful and restrained, playful and well-resolved.
We like projects that create a dialogue of space and light, materiality and color, existing constraints and new opportunities - and especially a synergy between the needs of the space, the client, and the aspirations of great design.
We like boxes within boxes, rooms within rooms, the blurring of inside and out, material contrasts, and surprising color combinations.
We like collecting - we collect images and colors that speak to our heart and combine them in our own way.
We find inspiration in lots of places... old f ilms, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows..
