Delicate ambience

From roof terrace to warehouse

The trick in successful planning for companies is to translate the brand identity into the spatial aesthetics in such a way that both the clients and users as well as the character of the products can be intuitively located there. Miss Lashes, an expanding company in the beauty and cosmetics market, worked with Philipp Architekten to develop such a concept for its Horb am Neckar location. The result was a concentrated, elongated complex consisting of two interconnected structures, plastered in white or clad in light-colored metal, with a two-story building facing east at the entrance, a roof terrace in the center, and then the warehouse.

The main facade with its funnel-shaped wall surfaces converging towards a glass opening undoubtedly offers a special attraction. Here, it is not only the colorfully illuminated brand logo that makes an impact on the outside – at night, the recessed and reflective entrance side can be illuminated with the corporate color pink, as it were, as an enticing display front. Inside, employees and customers are contacted by the reception area, above which the two-story foyer is developed and at the same time allows daylight into the offices above. This is supported by an emphatically transparent interior design that uses a lot of glass, for example in the gallery balustrade or the partition walls of the office spaces.

Omnipresent pink

Combined with reflective white surfaces everywhere and the likewise omnipresent pink, the brand thus finds its desired atmospheric presence, accompanied by appropriately selected furniture that picks up on the primary color tone – the restrooms are even dominated by it. The first floor accommodates the warehouse with packaging and a small store, as well as the administrative offices to the north, including the building infrastructure. In the front wing, the cafeteria, which faces a small outdoor terrace, is flanked by a seminar area and a work area – both of which are deliberately introverted thanks to the closed outer wall. The two main offices and a conference room are reached by elevator or metal spiral staircase, the only view of which is directed down into the foyer, where a small tree comes into view, with delicate foliage and blossoms, naturally in pink.

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

Philipp Architekten: A good workplace must express the individual corporate identity – keyword: corporate architecture. It is important to look closely at what fits the identity and culture of the respective company, without blunt copy and paste from the start-up culture of Silicon Valley. The design of the place must stimulate creativity and at the same time promote calm and contemplation. Maximum flexibility must be provided to facilitate adaptations to future developments in the company’s organization.

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

Absolutely. We spend so much time at work. After two challenging years marked by Corona and home offices, many employees don’t want to miss out on a certain cosiness and homely ambience at work either. Our customers tell us that an attractively designed workplace has meanwhile become a very big success factor in the “battle for talent”.

Which functional aspects do you consider to be the most important for the future development of workspaces?

In the past decades, we have seen all kinds of office design variants, from individual offices to open-plan offices, as an expression of a wide variety of organizational philosophies. However, it is interesting to note that employees are very rarely asked how they would like to work. In the course of this, we developed an office building with a campus character and so-called “business families” for one of our clients. Here, mobile working concepts are linked with the central requirements and wishes of the employees. Tailor-made workplace situations (group and individual workplaces) are created which, in addition to various options for working (meeting and creative zones), also include a number of homely aspects such as a separate kitchen, a “dining and living room” and even a private terrace.