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Functional and fantastic: interior designs for the workplace

Functional and fantastic: interior designs for the workplace

Discover innovative workplace buildings and interiors that have won awards for how they accommodate the needs of employees into their designs. 

We spend most of our lives at work. Whether that’s in an office, a factory, bank, shop or school, it’s essential for these diverse workspaces to be both engaging and effective. Well-designed interiors can reduce stress and increase productivity – employees need to feel calm and comfortable.

The award-winning designs below achieve that and more. 

Echo Investment Office

The award-winning Echo Investment Office in Warsaw was born from a brief to create a friendly, professional office which relates to the nature of the investor’s activity – the development industry – and areas related to construction, including architecture, design and urban planning.  

As Poland’s largest developer, Echo’s self-proclaimed standard is to “create places where everyday life happens – professional life but not only” and where “good equals comfortable, safe and responsible”. Its Warsaw office is physical testament to this goal. 

The brainchild of MIXD Interior Experience Design, the main inspiration for this Global Architecture and Design Award 2022 winner came from the film Inception. When entering the building, your eyes are drawn to the ceiling in the lobby area, which is decorated with forms of abstract buildings, reminiscent of the scene where the city turns upside down.

The work area is divided into sectors with joint work areas, which helps to avoid excessive noise levels. Soft zones are marked with noise dampening carpets. To promote acoustic comfort in the work areas further, ceilings made from natural acoustic panels and textile acoustic panels in the shape of corrugated sheets have been integrated.  

Looking to create spaces, buildings and environments that recognise wellbeing standards? Discover AUB Online's MA Interior Design:

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XAPO Bank 

Creating a physical space for a digital bank was the challenge when XAPO, which provides online banking services for crypto-currencies, commissioned Lagranja Design studio to create their flagship headquarters in Gibraltar. Winner of Best Office Interior (>25,000 sq ft) in the Architizer A+Awards 2021, the transformation has given a new lease of life to a semi-ruined old army barracks in the shadow of the famous rock, while helping to preserve the history of one of the most densely fortified and fought-over places in Europe.  

Two arched bays of the barracks complex, which were constructed in local limestone with ceilings supported by original wood beams, were cleaned and restored to convey the feeling of an ancient bank vault. Additional bays were used to create a contemporary office layout with furniture and décor made with digital processes – “a metaphor for the rapid, tech-driven transformation of banking and currency”. 

The David Rubenstein Forum 

Conceived in 2020 by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DSR) as “a home as thoughtful as its users”, the David Rubenstein Forum provides the University of Chicago with a 285-seat auditorium and multipurpose meeting spaces for workshops, symposia and lectures, among other activities. 

Interior Design’s 2021 Best of Year winner for Education and Higher Learning, the two-story base and eight-story tower is organised as “a stack of neighbourhoods with meeting and communal spaces offering diverse environments—formal and informal, calm and animated, focused and diffused, scheduled and spontaneous.” Each ‘neighbourhood’ combines a private social lounge to promote the sense of community and engagement. 

Ready to take the next step? 

With a focus on how future design can contribute to the United Nations’ sustainable goals, our part-time online MA in Interior Design helps prepare you to produce professionally relevant work at the forefront of interior design practice which accommodates the needs of various audiences – including the very young, elderly or disabled – in home, work and learning environments. 

With options to start this two-year course in January, May or September, you’ll be taught by our experienced academics, strengthening your research capabilities and understanding of a range of sectors. Complete the form below to get in touch with our friendly course adviser team for more information.

Sources: 

https://blog.egecarpets.com/explore/echo-investment-office 

https://www.mixd.io

https://en.echo.com.pl

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alankohll/2019/01/24/how-your-office-space-impacts-employee-wellbeing

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