Seeking new directions

‘Eurobuild Central& Eastern Europe’: What can we find on the drawing boards of Trzop Architects at the moment?

Bartosz Trzop, architect, CEO, Trzop Architects: 80 pct of the projects we are currently involved in are office fit-outs. We also do architectural work, having recently designed two buildings in the Centrum Praskie Koneser complex in Warsaw. One is the historic ‘I’ building, which will include restaurants, the other is the ‘L’ office and service building, facing onto ul. Ząbkowska. The main emphasis, however, is on office interior design. In the last year alone we designed around 60,000 sqm of conceptual and executive projects. We are currently working on offices for Accenture, L’Oreal, Hargreaves Lansdown, ERGO Digital IT and Smyk and PFR (the Polish Development Fund), among others.

That’s quite a lot. How big is your studio’s team?

There are 20 people in the studio, of which only two are interior designers, the others are engineers and architects. We are therefore mostly engineers. This means that we are able to take on conceptual projects as well as a construction and executive one – this is a very big advantage for the client as they can be led by just one architectural team throughout the entire design process. We also deal with multi-branch executive projects thanks to our constant cooperation with some excellent branch engineers and visualisation teams. This has increased the scale of our operations. We also have a lot of work due to framework agreements with two investors – Hines and Penta. For the former, we have worked on Proximo I in Warsaw, and now we are involved with Proximo II and the New City building on ul. Marynarska. For Penta we have been working on the D48 building. We started cooperating with both developers through projects for their tenants, which we carried out projects for directly. These were performed so well that we were commissioned for on multi-discipline executive projects. These contracts from the developers also give us the opportunity to collaborate with large, international architectural studios.

The studio has been operating since 2007. Who have you worked for so far?

Our work on the office of OLX Group in Poznań was intriguing. It has since won the Best Technology Office 2017 award. We had to design 4,700 sqm in the Maraton office building. The main intention of the investor was to appeal to potential employees by having attractive offices – a recruiting factor that has recently become very important. These offices amount to 15–16 sqm per person, which means there is a lot of space in terms of the arrangement. We also took into account the criteria for Well certification, which focuses on the needs of users. This approach to the design was also suggested by the building itself, since the developer had taken care to provide comfortable and environmentally-friendly Space.

Dentsu Aegis Network Polska commissioned us to design almost 8,000 sqm in an office building on ul. Czerska in Warsaw, which was also very inspiring. For example, we designed for them the first slide in a Polish office, which is the fastest way of getting from the mezzanine on the first floor to the lobby on the ground floor. We have just finished working on an office of ​​3,000 sqm (an entire floor) for the Ergo group in the Ethos office building on pl. Trzech Krzyży. The recently opened office includes a fitness room, a games room and a fireplace, while the lobby is more like the reception of a five-star hotel than the entrance to an office.

Which project has provided you with the most challenges?

The most difficult was The Brain Embassy in Warsaw, which eventually received the award for Workspace Solution of the Year at the Eurobuild Awards in Architecture and the award for the best co-working office in 2017 the Office Superstar awards organised by CBRE. Together with the investor, we set out to follow the latest trends closely, and this later bore fruit. It was a big challenge because we had to adapt the space previously occupied by a mobile phone operator. We had to decide which walls to demolish, while working out the route of the installations and the façade. We dismantled the entire façade and, when designing the new one, took into account the orientation of the building, the direction each side faced and the views onto the outside. Eventually we decided to put in large windows looking out onto Szczęśliwicka Hill. We came up with the idea of installing gondolas to inspire users and act as an interesting meeting place. There are also many other unusual places in the building, such as the tree house, the basketball area and meeting rooms with decor inspired by water sports – such as surfing and sailing. Another challenge was to change the roof structure and install skylights in it. We also decided to create a 500m mezzanine inside. In order to do this, it was necessary to strengthen the building’s structure up to the garage level so that the ceilings could bear the additional load. Thanks to this, we are able to create a spacious room with the character of a loft. This, in turn, gave rise to a number of acoustic issues that had to be addressed. So there are acoustic islands on the ceiling, acoustic panels and soft furniture. It was also a difficult project in terms of the deadlines. However, this is another market trend – not having much time to design offices. Usually we are given a single quarter or just two months for an office with an average area of ​​3,000–5,000 sqm.

Which features do companies pay the most attention to when it comes to designing their offices?

In the first place I would put improved communication, which should not only be efficient, but also encourage employees to integrate and move around the office. Informal meeting places and the dilution of space, that is, modern open space, are also important for them. We generally work on mobile devices, so desks are not always needed anymore and other work and meeting places have to be provided based on the furniture used. This can also be used to create the perfect conditions for building relationships in the office. If the employees get to know each other better through using the informal zones and enjoy it, the company also functions better. Having the right number of meeting places or conference rooms is also very important. Research shows that there are usually too few of them and there are no rooms for small meetings between 3–5 people. Furthermore, employers are paying more and more attention to sustainable design and the environmental features of their premises. By this I don’t just mean the natural greenery but also many of the other criteria for qualifying for a Well certificate. Greater emphasis is now being put on improving the acoustics in offices, a factor that plays a crucial role in whether we are able to focus and work effectively. And new regulations regarding acoustics came into force in January this year. The designer now has to pay careful attention to each and every element of the office space, from the ceilings, the floors and the walls, to choosing the right amount and quality of soft furnishings combined with acoustic panels. Furniture manufacturers are helping us in this. After embraced the trend and taken on board the new regulations.

What are the trends in office design?

I can see that everything is moving towards encouraging a more relaxed atmosphere, employee integration and work mobility in the office: so there are games rooms with car and motor- cycle simulators, rest rooms with massage chairs, nap rooms, large shared kitchens, themed meeting places, play areas... We are also being asked to design large integration and event areas, such as canteens, kitchens or cafeterias in almost every large office. Co-working, which is beginning to make its presence felt in the office market, has brought with it significant changes in how workspace is perceived.