bkp honored for architecture & working environments

The roughly 440 square meter pilot area in a central location shows how administration can be rethought. A modular, open-zoned room concept with three areas of use — open space for collaboration, coffee point for community and retreat areas for concentrated work — enables flexible working methods.

In terms of design, the design takes up the industrial character of Duisburg's inland port, combining robust existing structures with plenty of daylight and versatile furniture. The participatory work environment promotes openness, motivation and cultural change and serves as a testing ground for a future administration building in the city.

The jury highlights that openness and change can be felt spatially and that the interplay of industrial aesthetics, flexible furniture and clearly structured zones creates an identity-creating work environment at the highest design and conceptual level. In doing so, the city of Duisburg is sending a strong signal for contemporary, public interiors.

Together with bkp, GWG Wuppertal has transformed around 1,300 square meters of outdated office space into a future-oriented working environment. Inspired by the neighborhood idea of creating livable neighborhoods, the office offers a variety of spaces to work, meet and feel good.

A central coffee point, open zones and modular lounges promote employee exchange and identification, while ergonomic workplaces, daylight and transparency strengthen community and urban belonging. Target group-oriented consultation rooms and an open customer hall also create a special experience for customers. They now experience an environment with a high quality of stay — not standardized offices, but spaces that correspond to the reality of their lives and enable them to meet on equal footing.

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The jury describes the central, marketplace-like area as a memorable, identity-creating center and praises the precisely coordinated space and use concepts, the harmonious materiality and the high level of flexibility. The people-centred interior design makes a lasting impression and shows a level in every facet that lives up to the award.

Both award-winning projects show how architecture is becoming an active driver of change. They make it clear that workspaces develop their full potential when they combine strategy, culture and everyday life. The award confirms this claim and at the same time sees itself as an incentive to continue designing spaces in the future that show attitude, create identity and support people in their daily work. The result is architecture that not only reacts to current requirements, but also helps shape the future.