Image commercially licensed from: Unsplash
The new premises of EDENRED in Greece are housed on the second floor of the recently renovated ΙXI office building in the Moschato area of Athens.
The project was developed and implemented after the radical renovation of an existing building in accordance with LEED’s environmental certification standards and the conversion of the building into an aesthetically modern office space by the KN Group team. For this project, the KN Group team selected high-quality and environmentally friendly materials, redesigned and reused elements of the existing building in accordance with the principles of circular economy, and equipped the space with high-performance technologies, aiming for the smallest possible environmental footprint.
The building is a former industrial space of 840 m2, a square free plan, with a sparse grid of circular columns of great height and characteristic linear openings around the perimeter with a high apron. The influences of the existing shell in modernist architecture, with clear geometries, free-sightedness, and linearity, were preserved and transferred to the design of the interior.
The architectural approach aimed at the location of the main working areas around the perimeter, next to the elevation openings, in a way that achieved optimal lighting and ventilation of the space as well as free access for users to the view. The design of the workspaces in the elevated section was based on the logic of the open space model, where the different workgroups are delimited by light dividers, such as green islands and transparent dividers with colored frames.
In the center of the floor, all the cooperative spaces of the company are gathered in a polymorphic green construction with folding openings, where employees can chat and interact, meet customers, host events, and promote their services. The possibility of opening the external folding curtain walls of the central structure in collaboration with the wide steps of the elevated section, which can also be used as low stands, creates multiple scenarios of use.
A large wooden island on the boundary between the raised floor and the central space, at a different height, created a work bench with storage space. In it, 16 facing workstations are served by different heights of ergonomic Rookie chairs by Konstantin Grcic.
In the closed offices, the grid of colored partitions incorporated glass, which was removed from the previous façade of the building and reused. A wooden beam, a remnant of the adjacent lines of the electric railway, was used to create a stair on the site. Cabinets and bookcases with geometric shapes, colors, and textures create storage areas for living rooms or work benches for employees.
A decisive role is played by the break areas that are integrated in the workplace, acting as poles of interaction and teamwork, like the two Royal Stranger armchairs, which, with their special design, create a welcoming space next to a small library.
The anthropocentric philosophy of KN Group and the innovative way in which it approaches the needs of its customers have resulted in the creation of a multipurpose space that supports in various ways the functions of the user while at the same time highlighting a modern perception of office space.
The project’s design team includes Konstantinos Stratantonakis, Dimitris Kollaros, Valia Panagiotou, Eleni Galani, and Olga Markou.
You can find out more about KN Group and their most recent projects here: https://www.kngroup.gr/
