SQUARE, PRACTICAL, COLOURFUL!

Chocolate for inspiration

It is always fascinating to see what vital intensity can be developed from a rationally structured floor plan. Just pick up an issue of “Best Workspaces” and look for examples! Here, the planners from the Ippolito Fleitz Group had to design a typical rectangular architecture, a newly built storey with windows on three sides, a generously glazed entrance and an internal staircase with lift. Admittedly, the inspiration was more or less in the brief: it was about the “Ritter Sport chocolate headquarters”, which the company now wanted to open as a new working environment for 130 employees on 1,750 square metres of office space. The concept begins with indulgence. While the “Chocolate Café” on the ground floor is open to guests, connected to a long “brand path”, the “Dialogue Café” above is used for professional exchanges between meetings. At the very top, the “Fernweh-Café” with its green roof terrace opens up the view. The core area of the office is the “marketplace” with a kitchen counter, an alcohol bar and a mobile high table as well as a spacious arena for events and conferences.
and conferences.

The Package

The “chocolate and cocoa workshop”, which enables all employees in the building to participate creatively, is combined with the research and development department. The floors set up for administration, sensor technology and marketing have various communication and presentation areas, informal exchange and meeting facilities as well as rooms for retreat and concentrated work. Desk sharing allows a free choice of space, and mobile tables promote team building – especially in the “Ideas Workshop” or in the “Multi-Box”, a special multifunctional room. Everywhere, resource-saving materials follow the company’s principle of sustainability. Low-emission building materials and products ensure a healthy indoor climate. This applies to wall colours, carpet tiles and curtains, the furniture, the lights and even the plants and their pots. Finally, the sensually guiding colour scheme of the rooms and surfaces of the workplace is probably due in no small part to the designers’ sympathy for the cheerful colour scheme of the client’s colourfully packaged chocolate bars.

What are the key qualities of a good workplace for you?
Ippolito Fleitz Group: For us, there is less of a single workplace and more of a diverse range of places that cater to different needs. Concentrated, collaborative or communicative – an office is only attractive to employees if it can offer more than just a desk.
Do you see any similarities in interior design for living and working?
We see a much larger context here. There is currently a lot of unattractive office space standing empty and there is a shortage of housing. However, conversion is difficult with the existing floor plans and structures. It is a major task to think less about interior design and more about the city and architecture. Because in future we will need buildings that allow both: Living and working.
Which functional aspects do you consider to be the most important for the future development of workspaces?
Work is changing – constantly. The built space must be able to react to such processes of change. For us, this means creating spaces that are as agile as possible with as few massive fixtures as possible, without neglecting the identity of the company.