Cheers

The treehouse

Physical well-being can be achieved above all through good water – externally, but above all internally. The client of this workspace in Bad Vilbel, Hesse, the Hassia Group, subscribes to this statement. However, their soft drinks also thrive on flavour, which in the traditional sense has something to do with local fruit varieties. Accordingly, the narrative of the planners, the Ippolito Fleitz Group, refers to nature, in this case the apple tree. The compact new building with its rounded corners, known as the “tree house”, not only has alcoves protruding from the building envelope, from which you can look out over the production halls, but above all into the centre of the treetops. On its top floor, it integrates lush planting, combined with a large, divisible meeting room and an “innovation pavilion”, which is understood as a “creative jungle”. Finally, a fruit tree meadow was planted above the main entrance as a green, lively oasis. The overall concept combines environmental sustainability with identity architecture in the most convincing way.

Realisation

Old Bionade brewing kettles were melted to create the building’s copper skin, a concrete core-activated ceiling supports environmentally friendly heating, the slatted ceiling made from recycled PET bottles ensures good acoustics and the 38 employees and their guests walk on environmentally friendly carpets made from Econyl yarn, which is made from old fishing nets. The ground floor, with its Hassia drinks bar and atmospheric interior, in which deep blue wall tiles echo the colour of a drinks crate, is a place of reception and communication. The open-plan seating area encourages spontaneous meetings and provides space for events and town hall meetings. The eye-catcher is a circular meeting island. On the two upper floors, the working landscape expands, organised by softly curved dividing media and lush greenery. A frame system is used into which storage options, whiteboards or acoustic panels can be flexibly integrated.

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 are currently a lot of unattractive office spaces standing empty and there is a shortage of flats. However, conversion is difficult with the current 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.