Drees & Sommer Headquarters, Stuttgart

By Team IAnD

Photography: Zooey Braun;courtesy Ippolito Fleitz Group

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Ippolito Fleitz Group design a ‘non-territorial office’ befitting a contemporary working environment in which flexible working hours, attendance times, as well as fluctuating team sizes, have become commonplace...

Given the large amount of time most employees of international corporation Drees & Sommer property consultants spend outside the office, their headquarters at Stuttgart are designed to break away from the tradition of fixed workplace allocation and aspire to establish a non-territorial workstation system.

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There is no room for conventional "departmental thinking" here. Employees work in a decentralised way and form cross-functional teams of experts, according to the situation. This promotes efficiency by shortening communication channels and a varied and distinct range of communication zones meets the needs of different kinds of meetings.

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Flowing spaces are zoned by stand-alone individual offices, height-adjustable workstations, and freely positioned island retreats combined with open multi-functional zones - convenience by a centrally positioned assistants' work pool. The wall-to-wall carpet with its pixelated pattern defines the table zones and circulation areas, while simultaneously underlining the dynamic feel of the variable use of space.

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The core zones, with integrated adjoining rooms, are clad floor-to-ceiling with an all-round wall unit combining storage space, lockers, a central kitchenette, and the air-conditioning and ventilation systems. The warm acacia wood surface provides a pleasant contrast to the more neutral colour palette of the partition walls and furniture and the entire office is finished with sophisticated light, material and acoustic concepts.

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The importance of a break-out area is enhanced with a central communication hub in the building that, like the in-house cafeteria, provides a space in which to take breaks, as well as being a setting for informal discussions and meetings with customers. Besides, an elongated compartment contains three booths, each seating up to four, for private conversations; a long table is positioned for larger team meetings or sociable breaks; the bar counter provides an opportunity for relaxed chats over a cup of coffee; and smaller two-person tables for quick breaks and a lounge area round out varied and versatile seating arrangements. The terrace outside this space expands the room into the office campus' central inner courtyard.

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This conversion of a 20-year-old building is a good example of the challenges facing countless properties due to the needs of a communicative working environment, today and tomorrow; as well as drawing up the highest standards in innovative usage and spatial concepts, which always take employees into consideration.