Colorful composition

Multifunctional Space

As soon as a complex architectural concept is immediately stored in one’s visual memory, this is the best proof that it is a formally coherent and effective design. The rededication of a former laboratory area of the Bosch site in Renningen into a “New Work Space”, realized by SCOPE Architects in 2021, proves this. A multifunctional space concept was required that would serve the research network’s large center of 1,700 employees in a variety of ways.

The planners finally defined three functional areas, which they summarized under the terms “Concentrate, Communicate, Recover”. These helped to get a grip on the 850-square-meter, 4.50-meter-high open-office area.

Ambience

The area was subdivided by means of noise-insulating partition walls, meeting boxes and transparent “think tanks”. The 70 workstations are mostly organized in tables of six along the glazed outer walls. The original atmosphere of a laboratory hall remains an architectural component of the ambience: Static elements of the hall construction as well as the ceiling structure including air-conditioning technology and lighting systems are visible and support the refreshing overall aesthetics of the new interior.

Whereas the protective room envelope with its mild concrete gray ceiling and carpeting, black installations and white reflective surfaces formulates a bright technical side of the working world, contact surfaces such as island-like pedestals or cabin walls are given strong wall colors or are kept in warmly appearing wood material – combined with the green tones of the selectively used plants. Above all, the three meeting niches called “Inside the box”, which are arranged one behind the other like train cabs, intensify the continuous color motif of blue.

Colorful accents

As a unique selling point of the interior design, SCOPE used red accent lines that run across the architecture as well as along the suspended cable bridges or their supports. They point to the dynamics of the work processes, as it were, but also complete the richness of detail in the design language with which the hall landscape turns towards its users and optimizes their stay both functionally and atmospherically vitalized – nubby rubber surfaces meet wood, continuous hall surfaces meet podiums, highbenches meet roundabouts, locker compartments meet sound-absorbing armchairs, typographic statements meet…

What do you see as the supporting qualities of a good workplace?

SCOPE Architects: First and foremost, the workplace should meet the functional demands for collaboration, concentration and communication; beyond that, the creation of identification and a sense of purpose are in the foreground. We derive from this the demand for a unique and unmistakable design that reflects the individuality of the users. If we manage to create the greatest possible intersection between the identity of the company and the users – employees – the result is a design that does justice to both sides and is therefore successful.

Do you see any comparability in space design for living and for working?

Both typologies should be tailored to their respective users and require intensive consideration of the people who will “inhabit” these spaces in the future. In this context, the social components and those geared to meeting and communication are of great importance. This importance will increase even further in the office buildings of the future.

Which functional aspects do you consider to be the decisive ones in the future development of workspaces?

For us, the social relevance of future office uses is paramount. The key to the success of office properties lies in their diversity of use. Keyword “Society-centered Architecture” – the next step after “User-centered Architecture” and an answer to the hyper-individualism of the past years and its consequences on our environment. It is time for a change of perspective – away from the individual and towards society. How do we create modern working environments in the future that remain sustainably attractive both internally and externally? Places that have relevance beyond the workplace through their diversity of use could offer an answer.