Escritórios em Carnaxide

In a building located in Carnaxide, in an area marked by large warehouses and shops, which had once been a medical laboratory, an office building was to be built. This building would house the owner's own company, but as it was a building of around 5000 m2, there was still plenty of space left to accommodate more companies. It is in this sense that we are challenged to design a common space for all those who work and could come to work in this building: the kitchen or cafeteria.

Conceptually, the aim was for this cafeteria to be the image of the building, serving as a cafeteria but also as a leisure and relaxation area, and even a possible work area if necessary.

We were then challenged to design this space and give it its own identity and aesthetic, so that this space would somehow define the style and strategy that the rest of the building would receive. This was because, as it was a building of considerable size, the intervention in the building was not intended to be a one-off, but rather a phased intervention that would leave room for the different companies/teams that would be joining the space to have some freedom of adaptation, but with a guiding image and strategy for the space as a whole.

The building itself is characterised by an industrial, warehouse-like style, while its interior features vinyl flooring and false ceilings that are not particularly elegant but are essentially functional for the type of use it had. On the other hand, the building is characterised by a noble and well-executed concrete structure.

Part of our strategy for the space was to take advantage of the beauty of the building's concrete structure, so the proposal is to remove the false ceiling, revealing the beautiful concrete slab, and strip the pillars so that we can once again enjoy the exposed concrete. As a cafeteria space, the space was designed to be easy to clean and the materials themselves to be hygienic, minimising joints where dirt can accumulate. In this sense, materials that will mark the space are used, namely linoleum flooring – a joint-free material that allows for an easy-to-clean rounded skirting board – and ‘corean’ on the support benches – a material that can be fused and has no joints, once again allowing for easier cleaning and accumulating less dirt.

The sustainability of the materials was a concern, where we highlight the linoleum material made from natural components, the lamps that were designed by us and handcrafted with wicker, and the supporting furniture that was purchased second-hand, where natural wood is the main material.

It was through the flooring that we brought a touch of creativity: inspired by typical chequered picnic blankets (usually in shades of red), we designed a pattern for the flooring based on this pattern but in shades of green, and so we laid the ‘blanket on the floor’, creating a dining area and thus drawing an analogy with a picnic.