#OFFICE #CONNECTION #WOODEN SKIN
St phane Beel Architects: www.stephanebeel.com
FNG is a fast-growing fashion company that requested a building that could grow with the company. They asked for a scheme that promotes the company values and where relationships can be built between the various departments. This turned into an interesting quest requiring intensive cooperation between FNG and St phane Beel Architects to achieve a fully integrated design including landscape and furniture design.
The building consists of a parking plinth with a terrace and two volumes. The volumes are linked by a physical connection, a green walkway. A wooden skin wraps around the outline of the building. The inner facades are clad with wood planks painted in white.
An open plan workspace is organised around the central core that not only contains the building services but also connects the workspaces and floors, each floor containing a different department of the company. The prominent cascade staircase, void and patio link the various floors and thus the different components of the production process.
The central core is clad in black cowhide applied over all cupboards and doors. Ceilings are patterned with acoustic panels suspended below the exposed slab with concrete core activation. This made it possible to provide open workstations with hard wood floors in a pleasant acoustic environment. The result is a very flexible and ecologic building that can easily respond to growth and to other changes in FNG s internal organisation.
CREDITS:
Architects: St phane Beel Architects
Location: Mechelen, Belgium
Surface: 8000mA? offices | 3000mA? parking space
Year/Status: 2015/completed
Materials: Wood, concrete
Project Team: St phane Beel, Pieter Vandeputte (project architect), Alexis Lagae, Griet Aesaert
Client/Contractor: FNG Group
Partner/Consultants: Structure, HVAC: Arcadis Belgium | Landscape: Ludovic Devriendt
Photography: Luca Beel
