A new quarter, the Vierzig549 project, is being built in Heerdt by 2025 with a mixed use of apartments and commercial units. Living and working will be close together. But before the kind of life that the city and the owners want can take place here, construction will have to begin. And this will take a long time. Project developer Die Wohnkompanie NRW has therefore decided to pitch its tents - in the form of offices - temporarily in the middle of the action. Together with Bauwens Development, the company is developing the quarter, which is located on a former industrial wasteland. So what could be more obvious than using the existing buildings? A former canteen proved ideal for the pop-up offices, while the collaboration with interior design firm Raum-Haus-Form proved ideal for the redesign.

"When a project extends over such a long period of time, it is helpful to be directly on site at the construction site," explains Oliver Degel from Raum-Haus-Form. The 310 m² former canteen is located in a building from the 1980s. The aim was to create an appealing working atmosphere without major structural work. Of course, technical standards were also to be taken into account for the equipment, even if the use was only temporary and would last for several years. "We positioned the general infrastructure, i.e. the printer and storage room, toilets, kitchen and break room, like a ship in the middle," says Degel, describing the floor plan, which is divided into three permeable parts. The workstations are arranged to the left and right as open-plan, single or two-person offices. Noise protection is provided by sliding doors that can be used to separate the areas. If the bulkheads are closed on both sides, a large meeting room with a hospitality zone is created in the middle.

Designed in the company color, the middle section represents a strong corporate identity. This has a more subtle effect in the offices, where elements of the corporate identity have also been used in the design. A meeting table, for example, draws the company logo into the third dimension, the wall design takes up the pattern of the notepad or the sections of the pin board are backed with magnets so that notes can only be attached in DIN grid format. Work here is focused, which is also conveyed by the restrained color scheme. Acoustic elements provide additional support.

www.raum-haus-form.de

Photos:

Andreas Stubbe

(Published in CUBE Düsseldorf 02|20)