Udesign Architecture’s Marsh McLennan Companies offices in Istanbul seamlessly blend a warm, hybrid workspace with biophilic elements, reflecting the city’s character while enhancing functionality and sustainability throughout the design.

In our general design approach, following the globally developing trends, we tend to use the office area as functionally as possible. We try to leave no inert areas by giving creative solutions to each and every corner while meeting with the corporate needs of our client, Marsh McLennan and following and enhancing their brief.

Marsh McLennan Istanbul office has a hybrid work manner. For that manner, we focused on giving the office a warm vibe by blurring the line between home and office. In order to ensure that in our design we have many agile working areas combined with standart workstation zones. While doing that, we wanted to distinct this office from the many globally distributed offices of Marsh McLennan and we give the character of the city to the design elements to emphasize this is the Istanbul office.

After the entrance hall, area is split into two by a blue corridor which resembles Istanbul bosphorus. This line then opens up to an office gallery with high ceiling and mezzanine and then connects to a sculpture like staircase which also follow the lines of the bosphorus.

Office workflow is planned in a way that outsiders who come for a meeting will see only a glimpse of the working area but not interfere with it as much. In that purpose meeting zones are located between entrance and the office area. And also there is a client lounge area in the mezzanine floor which has a seperate connection from entrance then the office but also has a view of the office from up.

The classical office area is split by two tram figures that gives dynamism to the otherwise which would be a workstation after workstation zone.

Open meeting areas and hotdesks are distributed throughout the office with different levels of acoustic solutions. The two trams placed between workstations serves as focus desks and half open small meeting areas. All areas that are left after the needs of our client is met, are utilized as hotdesks and small meeting areas as well.

Printer areas with recycle points are placed homogenously. Locker areas are also placed closed to the entrance matching the total number of the employees.

Breakout area serves several purposes; it is a breakout are as named as well as as agile working area, a get together area for all the office and a connection to mezzanine by creating another level in the middle like a terrace where you can hang out, work or enjoy the view from up high.

As this is a very crowded office space as well as using many acoustic elements to reduce noise pollution, we created many spaces for the employees to relax for a while or to change their working mood if they wanted to or to have a private work session or meeting just close by without any reservations needed. In this office you don’t have be on your desk, you can work anywhere.

Sustainability is one of the most important aspects for us in our designs in general. And in Marsh Mclennan office we approached in different levels.

Our first approach is the use of day light. Inn our core area we have 2 different zones; one is the gallery part with 6.5m height that receives day light very well and second is the mezzanine floor and under the mezzanine floor which is way darker. We used light colors on the reflective areas of the gallery part to direct the daylight to the darker areas to reduce the use of artificial lighting and help energy saving. While doing that we used light absorbing materials and colors are used on the areas like the Shell of mezzanine floor to reduce brightness for the gallery part during the day.

Second approach for sustainability is by material use. We choose materials that we will use from the brands that use mostly recycled raw materials and also have other aspects to be carbon neutral.

Thirdly, we used many greens and plants throughout the office to have a biophilic design.