The Spanish practice reimagines the office in the era of Covid-19
Madrid-based Enorme Studio has recently completed a new family office for Xeito Investments in Spain’s capital.
Located in the heart of the city on the first floor of a historic building, with scenic views of the Retiro park, the practice has created a multifunctional workspace, which focuses on flexibility and agility.
With the capability to evolve beyond an office, project showroom and events space, central to the project is a 360º circle and meeting point, designed to reflect the firm’s open-minded and innovative ethos. The arch of the circle offers the possibility to explore the entire space without the interference of other people. This is done to afford concentration and without the need of creating separated spaces, while also assuring the safety distance required during Covid-19.
Meanwhile, other rooms like the auditorium and library are enclosed spaces, designed in glass and other raw materials like wood, carefully chosen for their sustainable and durable qualities.
All of the open areas are articulated with a double curtain system, each presenting a different gradient of transparency and opacity that enables the space to be configured however needed: when completely shut, a blue cylinder-esque curtain hides its interior, while closing only the first half of the perimeter, separates the concentration zones from the more public areas. Furthermore, the complete design uses partitions with pivoting and folding doors that can create, if necessary, a continuous room with the office as one sole.
The main objective of the project is, on the one hand, to reinforce the importance of design targeted towards people. However, in light of Covid-19, the need for agile design will only continue to rise, proving that Enorme Studio is ahead of the curve in shaping spaces that fuel collaboration and teamwork in a safe environment.
All photographs courtesy of Javier de Paz García
