Description

As a global management consulting concern, Deloitte Consulting is among the new companies of the information society. Knowledge is sold as a product by means of direct communication. The workplace is at the customer’s site, in a hotel, on a train or in an office. For the nomads of the post-industrial age, the office is more than just a workplace, it is a kind of home, where knowledge is bundled and exchanged, and social contacts are cultivated.

The new location is in the heart of Vienna, on the fourth floor of a late nineteenth century building. This old building, near Hotel Sacher and the Staatsoper, embodies on the one hand, conservative values like tastefulness, craft skills and reliability, and on the other, it combines suspense with the forward-looking, non-territorial office design concept.

The office’s most conspicuous design element – which is also part of the corporate identity – is the “Spine Wall,” which, as the backbone, orders the space. Along this backlit glass wall develops a work environment that is not defined by fixed workplaces, but by functional zones. Walls of frameless glass panels and freestanding dividers with panels of wire netting structure the space and create a flowing transition between the zones. For concentrated work by teams or individuals, group zones with four to six workplaces and so-called “Think Tanks” are available to the staff. Communication, a significant component of their work, manifests itself spatially in the meeting rooms, the cafeteria, the “touchdown bar” and the deckchairs “on the beach.” The employees meet here, by chance or design, in an environment where the boundaries between work and leisure are blurred. These zones, equipped with network connections, can be used in addition for short periods of work at any time. Territorial claims are exchanged for workplaces of varying form. Following the principle “first come, first served,” staff members (classified as “residents” or “visitors” according to the length of their stay) occupy workplaces for a few hours, days or months. Permanent workplaces are available only to office management and the partners, whose activities require their long-term presence. In order for the desk-sharing principle to function, work tools are stored in mobile personal boxes parked, in the absence of their owners, in the “Caddy Station.” The reception desk and the office management are the information and coordination points. Careful planning of the layout of network connections and wheeled furnishings enable the rooms to be easily rearranged and there­by offer a high degree of flexibility. The well-balanced play of light, colours and material lend the rooms a stimulating and relaxed working atmosphere, convincing down to the last detail.

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Originally published in: Rainer Hascher, Simone Jeska, Birgit Klauck, Office Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2002.