Chinese architecture studio Neri&Hu has designed a flexible office space in Shanghai for the changing needs of employees at media company Red+Plus Studio.
The Shanghai-based studio stripped back the 529 square meter space, located on the second floor of a factory building in a former industrial campus, removing many layers of previous renovations.
The building’s concrete structure was left exposed throughout with a number of columns breaking up a large multipurpose space in the center of the office.
Large steps in this space can be used as seating for presentations with a hidden projector placed in the roof.
Two stainless steel structures enclose meeting rooms along this main space, while private offices are arranged along it.
A room with stainless steel desks, which is lit by six pre-existing skylights in the pitched roof, runs along one edge of the room.
“With the strength of the building’s original character revealed, all additions to the space have been carefully applied in layers that allow what lies behind to co-exist, inhabiting the liminal space between past and present,” explained the studio.
The studio used “nomad” as a design concept, based on the client’s request for flexible workspaces.
The spaces have been designed in such a way that they can serve multiple functions, with several sliding doors created to provide flexibility and allow the company to modify the workspace according to future needs.
“Much like mobile populations who move between cities to provide specialized services, people working for and with this agency needed their spaces to transform under various scenarios,” the studio said.
Stainless steel and frosted glass have been used extensively throughout the space to contrast the concrete structure and reflect the changing use. Galvanized steel and mesh were selected as they will change color over time.
Neri&Hu’s other recent projects include a courtyard house in Singapore and a wire-mesh-wrapped guest house in Shenzhen.
The photograph is by Zhu Runzi.
Project credits:
Partners in charge: Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu
Associated: Siyu Chen
Design team: Jerry Guo, Kenneth Qiao, Jinghan Li, Ath Supornchai, Kany Liu, Greg Wu
FF&E design and procurement: republic of design
Service provider: Shanghai Idea Mechanics Interior Designers Contractors
