Capping the re-rise of shared workplace synergies

Compiled by Team IAnD

Photography: courtesy KONTRA

Read Time: 2 mins 

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Shared workspaces are on the revival as they seem a perfect fit for the current dynamics of gen next. KONTRA designs an upbeat one in Istanbul, Turkey…

Devised as an entrepreneurial ecosystem, such spaces promote social synergies, enhance value systems and increase camaraderie. Kolektif House Levent designed by KONTRA is one such important business centre that showcases the adaptive reuse of an old broderie factory.

 

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Spread across 2700 sq. m., with a 1500 sq. m. entrance floor and a 1200 sq. m. mezzanine, it seizes the essence and spirit of collaborative work places with 75 private offices and shared amenities for 150 nomad members.

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Preserving the original firebrick envelope, together with the iron joinery, the structure's industrial past creates the perfect common backdrop for individual offices to brand their spaces using the blank panel walls. The interior uses a combination of materials such as firebricks, raw iron, exposed concrete, Oriented Strand Board (OSB), glass and wood.

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The spatial configuration is highlighted with conference rooms designed with a "green office" approach, accentuated by graphics inspired by nature and carpets boasting of a watercolour effect. The different designs of the six conference rooms accommodate corporate meetings and provide users with comfortable gathering areas that offer full rein to a range of concepts.

Moreover, office gardens blend in seamlessly with the wooden terraces and the landscape, creating a green, living and breathing space for people spending close to 8-10 of their waking hours at work.

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Analogous to a "house" that incorporates spacious "spaces with pitched roofs" in various spots of the structure, with scattered objects and wheel mechanisms highlighting the design, some spaces like the home offices, telephone booths and bathroom partitions call to mind houses in Amsterdam, constructed as they are from OSB.

A dedicated multi-levelled, high-ceilinged event hall that features wooden tiers with French cushions as seating; the convenience of convertible ping-pong/work tables and beanbag chairs; greenery dangling from the walkways; continuous background music and the pleasant break out area – the Geyek café with its high standing bar, tables and stools offer the perfect work cum social equation integral to the modern business module.  

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Producing the effect of an artistic installation, furniture is specially designed and manufactured by KONTRA and complemented by individual works of different designers, produced under the art directorship of Meyir Gabay.