Side by Side

Designing Identity Within a Historic Industrial Structure

Architects are always pleased when they encounter a strong site — especially when it comes to selecting the location for their own office. Designing in harmony with a distinctive existing structure and its dominant material presence both challenges and guides the creative process.
This is precisely what MAAS & PARTNER Architekten experienced during the development of their new location in Münster: a 100-year-old industrial building, elongated and five stories high, bordered by a street to the east and a stair tower to the west, featuring a difficult yet restorable structural fabric.
The project involved planning the second and third floors as well as the attic floor with its characteristic mansard shape. The architectural engagement with the building, its substance, and its materiality was carried out meticulously. Concrete surfaces were exposed and then aesthetically integrated, with a focus on sustainability, respect for historical value, and contemporary adaptation.
“The beauty of compositional design lies in juxtaposition, framing, complementing, and completing.”
At the foundation of all interventions was the objective of transforming the office into a “workplace of tomorrow,” aimed at bringing together teamwork, communication, and community under one roof, alongside spaces for calm and concentration.
A total of 62 permanent workstations were to be arranged ergonomically and productively across three floors, each covering 330 square meters.
The team worked intensively on defining the style and formal expression that the new office would embody and convey. The outcome embraced and emphasized the existing character traits of the historic building on Bremer Straße 42. The goal was to create a space that was “matter-of-fact, raw, tactile, and exposed… with basic elements like brick, glass, and wood — all materials with similar properties. Once again, honest, exposed, and without the use of drywall.

A Functional and Honest Interior for Modern Collaboration

The complete interior design also included technical equipment, furnishings, and furniture, so that after the structural zoning through architectural elements, large-scale built-in furniture installations were designed and realized as room-in-room constructions.
Mobile partition walls, counters, and shelving systems were created and implemented.
A kiosk with a serving window houses the coffee machine and beverages; letters are sorted into individual mailboxes; a dedicated wardrobe accommodates construction helmets; and project teams can sketch ideas on meter-long Plexiglas panels.
Life has returned to the building, and in this historic industrial structure, production is once again underway — now within a modern workspace.

What can architecture contribute to creating a good workplace?
Pascal Maas:

Our (working) environment has a decisive impact on our productivity and well-being. It is beneficial when a variety of different options are available. Even better is when a space offers something more: a spark of inspiration, a new idea, or a sense of resonance.

To what extent should the design of a workspace address individual needs?

Design should primarily respond to the specific needs of the activity itself. An accountant requires a completely different working environment than a design architect. Therefore, workspaces should be tailored to the nature of the tasks being performed.

Which materials do you particularly recommend to your clients in architecture and interior design?

We generally recommend materials that do not have to be disposed of as hazardous waste when a building is dismantled. It benefits everyone involved to think ahead — even to the time after the building’s use has ended.