The office for IT department of the PETSHOP company is located in St. Petersburg, on Chkalovsky avenue, in a Soviet industrial building of 50th – 60th years of the 20th century. Ridge ceiling and concrete columns more than 4 meters high, the top floor and huge windows overlooking the Petrograd Side – these are a fine introduction of space for the creative department of the modern dynamic company.
The aesthetics of Bauhaus (the higher school in Dessau and the architectural direction of the first third of 20th century) has become a basis of style and the main source of inspiration. Simple laconic forms, utilitarian approach and the ideas of functionalism once has made a revolution in architecture. Now we transfer this esthetics to interior design, but only its decorative part. The interior stylistics of co-working and office spaces of modern New York also had a great influence on this interior mix. There, in NYC, interior design for once industrial spaces outgrew “the same loft” long ago.
In office space planning the most representative meeting room has become the main object and emphasis, receiving the laconic rounded forms and the central position in “the heart”, dividing other open space into two «wings» – a zone of graphic designers (for twenty people) and a zone of IT specialists (for thirty people). These are the clean, spacious working spaces which are not overloaded with excess objects: only the order, freedom and a lot of live plants. Botanical, slightly southern motives – an important component of this interior. Plants support a slightly-dusty-color palette of an interior, like an old photo.
The second “key” object, an amphitheater, is located near the meeting room. It is a universal lecture hall suitable for short meetings, free time, activities and other. It is the «center of gravity», the place of force and gathering of all. This place is for a corporate spirit. Its ladder (with guest seats) conducts upward into a mezzanine – the second level where it is possible to work, have a rest, play in PS …
Below a mezzanine there is a kitchen and a lunch zone for employees with a big mono-table and a zone for cooking: here it is possible to have dinner with colleagues or to hold buffet receptions. The bathroom supports a slightly noticeable theme of South American sun and jungle: the terracotta color of walls, chandelier-fans and the playlist with luk thung and bossa nova. This beautiful and intelligent space, “not-like-office-project-looking”, is designed to give comfort and the right vibes to creative employees, that they could find inspiration, harmony and the new amazing ideas.
Architects: PAUM design
Lead Architects: Anna Philippova, Polina Masiianskaia
Project Team: Victoria Chugunova, Dmitry Rybak, Anatolii Mozalevskii
Photographs: Sergey Melnikov