Frame Dock

Office work today is highly dependent on there being power available and access to data networks. Adeline Seidel talked with Steffen Waldminghaus, Managing Director of “Schulte Elektrotechnik”, about how power and data can be made available everywhere and how the flexible world of work can be rendered more efficient.

Today, a working environment without light is simply inconceivable. Yet only rarely can the lighting be adjusted to individual users’ needs. Precisely that is about to change. Adeline Seidel spoke with Stefan von Terzi, Marketing Director at “Zumtobel”, on trends in lighting design for the workplace.

The office as we know it is swiftly disappearing. The increasing digitalization of our working environment is one obvious reason for this, and “flexible” is the seemingly omnipresent buzzword of the day. But what exactly does “flexible” mean in this context?

“NL Architects” have transformed a 1970s office high-rise into a place that caters to current office workflow and lays the foundations for future changes. Adeline Seidel talked with Kirsten Hüsig and Walter van Dijk from the Amsterdam architectural company about creating new work worlds in old buildings.

Tanya Ruegg, Creative Director at architects’ firm “Camenzind Evolution”, and Stefan Camenzind, founder and MD of the same, masterminded Google’s office worlds – and emphatically changed how we view the place of work. Adeline Seidel talked with the two architects about the methods and requirements associated with themed worlds in the work place.

For over 22 years Raphael Gielgen has concerned himself with office development and design. As head of the consulting section at office furniture makers “Bene” he closely monitors the global changes in the office as a location and is involved in countless projects, including the new central office for the BMW Brilliance Werk in Shenyang, China.

Danish architectural firm “Henning Larsen Architects” builds places of work the world over. Adeline Seidel talks to Werner Frosch, Managing Director of the Munich office of Henning Larsen and responsible for the new Siemens Head Office, about different outlooks on work and how these influence office architecture.

A radical break in office culture: Not only did the staff at the headquarters of “Total” in Germany relocate their premises from a historical building to a brand new office high-rise, they also swapped their small enclosed rooms for an open-plan design. Keen to spare their employees a complete “culture shock”, the company management opted for a participative approach. Office planning for and with everyone – the way to go?

The dutch architecture firm UN Studio created a vibrant work lab for the new build “Zentrum für virtuelles Engineering”, one of 59 institutes of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft worldwide. The electrification and networking solutions by Evoline allow maximum flexibility in workspace.

How are changed work processes influencing the architecture of office buildings? Adeline Seidel spoke to Tom Geister, Associate at Sauerbruch Hutton Architects, about developers’ desire for flexibility and spaces that knowledge workers see as tailored to their needs.

The metamorphosis from the post-industrial to the digital and highly individualized society is also changing types and forms of work – which has massive consequences for the format of the workplace. It is all the more important, therefore, for architects, planners and designers to understand this change process.

One thing is clear at this year’s Orgatec in Cologne: the lines dividing homes from offices are becoming very blurred. While the playful office world may still be a topic, work is being taken seriously again. We outline the key new products at the fair.

When “NL Architects” redesigned the “NS Stations” Headquarters in Utrecht then also reinvented the working culture there. The individual office cells morphed into a well-thought out, deadpan and charming office environment.