We spend so much of our lives at work it’s always great to come across a project for an office or factory or other place of employ that is more than a dark box and instead genuinely creates a wonderful place to be (and work) in.
I love this thing all over, starting with the inventive and lovely use of brick, lending its mass and warm rugged feel while also being used in a sculptural way – it’s even used as an air diffuser in the lobby! The brick also pairs well with the raw concrete structure, and all this mass is playfully subverted through the floating stairway.
The best, though, is that there are no less than five interior courtyards bring in light as well, quite importantly, as air. There’s no being stuck in a dark cubicle; there’s hardly a place from within that you can’t see into a courtyard or out to another fantastic bit, an outdoor bamboo and metal screen scrim that itself leads to a reflecting pool bordering a garden.
There’s a richness here in materials and in form that’s just a joy to behold, and the interlocking bits of interior and exterior spaces creates vibrancy as you move through the building. Very nicely done, I’d totally love to work here.
The Star Engineers Administrative Building and Factory by Studio VDGA
Lynx Thoughts 