A company office doesn’t have to be a drab collection of purely functional spaces, even when you’re on a low budget. One way to infuse lots of morale-boosting personality into your work environment is to integrate references to whatever it is that you’re selling right into the materials and decor of the space, whether your product is car insurance or lumber.
In fact, if you’re in the business of selling physical goods, your office could double as a showroom, even if it’s not customer-facing. What better way is there to give all of your employees a true, interactive connection with your products on a daily basis?
Brazilian architecture firm Solo Arquitetos shows how this can be done with the new offices it completed for Frank Madeiras, a timber company headquartered in the city of Curitiba. The architects finished the offices with the company’s own products, using pine plywood boards on various walls, ceilings and pieces of furniture.
Walking through the entry corridor to the open-plan work area and dining area, employees literally breathe the product, enjoying the scent of pine. The theme continues along tabletops, shelves, waiting areas and kitchen countertops. The rest of the space is designed to highlight the warmth and beauty of the pine, setting it off against black, white and gray surfaces. Floor-to-ceiling windows along the outer wall complement the interiors with plenty of natural daylight.
The architects wanted not just to highlight the materials produced by Frank Madeiras, but also show off the flexibility of its use and the quality of its manufacturing. The result is pretty gorgeous, wouldn’t you agree?
Photography by Eduardo Macarios
