Renovation of Kaixuanfang Office
The project is located in a traditional factory building in Kaixuanfang in the central area of Shanghai. It has been used as the owner's office space for nearly ten years. The exisiting space consists of two floors: the first floor is a photography space open to the public and a shared lounge for internal staff; the mezzanine and the second floor are office space. The owner hopes to reorganize and upgrade the space without changing the basic layout. The space itself is rectangular, with open and straight forward vibe and ample potential for transformation. Through multiple discussions with the client, the designer manged to define the work scope and possibilities of transformation. After reorganizing and dividing the existing space, Atelier Siyu, with an adaptive approach, reprogrammed the space with logical circulations and inspiring additions to bring out more creative vibes for the office.
Balancing Between Spaces
The first floor of the office is a photo studio with a reception area at the entrance. From the entrance to the end of the studio space, the designer placed an enclosed "box" as the transition core from the extrovert space to the introvert area of the office, connecting the reception, the tea lounge, the coffee area and more private spaces including the equipment room, the sample room, the theater and the photo studio.
The "box" is a meeting room can accommodate 12 people. The plan area is 4.2m*7.2m, placed with an staggered angle inside the existing space, creating indirect circulations within the straightforward space. By creating inclinations between the existing structure and panels of the “box”, resonating with the lights,. the designer brought in more vitality and layers to the existing structure.
Vertical Landscape of Staircase
The staircase in the exisiting space was disconnected with the first floor, therefore the designer removed a section of the staircase and redirected it to the public area at the entrance, connecting the entrance with the front desk. At the same time, the space at the bottom of the staircase is redefined as a pantry. The lower part of the staircase, the front desk and the kitchen are wrapped with an angled lightweight brick wall. Openings at the corner of the staircase and the reception create a "framed view" when you enter the office. The main structure of the staircase is painted in black, creating strong contrast with the red frames of the exposed structure and the grey entrance space, adding a sense of daring to the rational working space.
Multi-programmed Wall System
On the window side of the first floor, the original concrete structure and the previously added steel structure formed a wall with a thickness of 600mm, which needed to be reorganized. Considering the insulation requirements, the windows originally planned to be retained also need to be reconsidered. Therefore, the air conditioners, the trash bins and fire extinguishers are repositioned in the wall with appropriate heights. The space became more logical and efficient, and the structure of the core space is more clarified. The use of glass bricks created balance between privacy and lighting.
The existing space on the second floor was relatively complete, but the height under the beams was only 2.3 meters. Taking such restriction in consideration, the designer reorganized the space based on the structural grid and added geometric metal blocks of irregular angles as lobby spaces. The lobbies connect areas of different functions, including flexible workrooms, printing rooms, small meeting rooms, administrative and financial offices, managers’ offices, etc. These relatively private spaces were divided by oblique glass partitions, parallel to the frames of lobby spaces, playing with geometric tricks while strengthening the integrity of the space.
As the space cannot allow pre-buried wires on the ground, the designer added columns in the work area to introduce electricity from the ceiling to the desks.
