Surprising color combinations, authorial mesh arrangements on the ceilings and wall murals alluding to the urban fabric of the capital city of Małopolska – this is what Autodesk office in Cracow looks like. However, in spite of a great number of details, everything here fits together perfectly. The design of this unique space is a creation of The Design Group studio. Bakata Design, on the other hand, was responsible for its furnishings.
Autodesk was one of the first tenants of the Unity Centre complex in Cracow, a new multifunctional business center. The Unity Tower, known to all Cracovians as the ‘Skeletor’ constitutes its important part. It waited almost 45 years to take shape and start serving its once intended role. Autodesk office is located at Lubomirskiego 2 and occupies ca. 1440 sqm.
NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE INDUSTRIAL STYLE
Autodesk is a multinational corporation that was founded nearly 40 years ago in California. It develops and produces software and renders services for the architecture, engineering and entertainment industries. Its staff is dominated by engineers, and because of them the original design was dominated by the industrial style. However, The Design Group architects suggested a slight modification to this style. They called it ‘modern industrial’; all this thanks to wood and intensive colors which warmed up the arrangement. An Investor, who was very much involved in the whole design process, accepted the change. In this way, a project combining specific for industrial design arrangement elements with vivid colors, nature and art was created.
AUTHORIAL GRAPHICS AND MESH
One of the inspirations that determined the look of the Cracov office are Autodesk graphics. Their implementation in the arrangement of this space was one of the client’s suggestions. They were cut out on a special foil (so-called manifestation foil) and put on the panes separating subsequent zones of the office. They were also the element that conditioned the furniture and mesh colors – an extremely important element in the Autodesk project.
Net Effect, which is what the TDG designers call the use of the mentioned expanded mesh, is another theme for this office and one of its most interesting elements. They were stretched on the ceilings and partially on the walls, and the vibrant colors of the mesh and its dynamic forms provide this interior space with a big dose of positive energy.
THINKING ABOUT THE USERS
The reception area connected to the elevator lobby is a perfect introduction to the design style of the entire Autodesk office. A characteristic three-dimensional mesh arrangement is present here, referring to the company logo. The area is connected to two conference rooms intended for meetings with Autodesk clients and partners.
The workspace is mostly open space. Workstations function individually and are very mobile. Each desk is a separate piece, so they can be easily reshuffled to create 2-, 4- or 6-person configurations. The workstations are equipped with ergonomic Herman Miller chairs, one of the examples is the Mirra 2 chair model. Each desk has electric controls, which allow the right adjustment of its parameters depending on the user’s needs, as well carrying out your tasks in the standing position. The monitors were mounted on Colebrook Bosson Saunders holders. This English company belongs to Herman Miller Group.
The employees also have at their disposal smaller and larger rooms dedicated for meetings, conferences, training sessions or video conferences. Each of them is equipped with various types of chairs (e.g. Setu by Herman Miller), stools (e.g. Pinch by Naughtone), tables (e.g. Knot by Naughtone, Cage by Tacchini or Elephant by Kristalia) and dressers by Noo.ma. In the new Autodesk office physical activity was not forgotten either. In a specially prepared room with a treadmill you can even hold your business talks.
MULTIFUNCTIONAL SPACE
A very interesting space, combining several functions, is the kitchen and a chill out zone, which can be formally separated by a curtain. Vibrant colors dominate in the kitchen – blue kitchen furniture was juxtaposed with a yellow island, accompanied by multicolored Polly chairs and kitchen stools manufactured by Naughtone. In the chill out zone, apart from comfortable sofas, one can find a pool table, table soccer and PlayStation. However, if necessary, and in accordance with the principle of adapting the office to the current user needs, this space can be transformed into an all-hands meeting place. The grandstand, the projector or the possibility to transform the pool table into a meeting table perfectly serve this purpose.
WE ARE FROM CRACOW…
As The Design Group designers noted, the investor was also very keen to give the office appearance of the urban fabric of Cracow. It is a tradition that each of Autodesk offices around the world refers in its arrangement to the atmosphere of a given city. It is no different in case of the Cracow office.
The open space area was covered with a fitted carpet that refers in its structure to the waters of the Vistula River. In select spaces we can also find photograph wallpapers with shots from various places on the map of Cracow. The kitchen is decorated with a mural showing only half of one of the buildings in Crocow, whereas the other half is located in the reflection of the adjacent huge mirror. Depending on the perspective you can see the whole building or just half of it. Many of these works were created by artists and photographers associated with Cracow.
