Projektek|Iroda
ThyssenKrupp - Office of the Year 2021
- 56 Budafoki road, 1117 Budapest
- 16000 m 2 | 800 headcount
- átadás éve: 2021
SPACE FOR COLLABORATION
It is an attractive, but rather stressful task for designers, to design an office and laboratory. Especialí if it has to serve the everyday needs of a creative engineering team that constantly performs in one of the top three in its own field, regularly experimenting with hardware and software. The new office and laboratory complex of thyssenkrupp’s development center in Budapest looks like a trendy workplace at first glance. It’s actually more than that: it’s not just an office suitable for everyday development work, agile project management, but also a delicate ecosystem of creativity and precise engineering teamwork. The performance of this infrasturcture is measured every day by the world’s automotive industry in terms of innovation and implementation of great ideas.
Germany’s thyssenkrupp, the world’s leading supplier of steering columns, approached the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 1999 looking for electric steering systems. Such systems can reduce vehicle consumption, make traffic safer, and last but not least, these systems are also suitable for self-driving cars. Three Hungarian PHD students created the model of the first “smart” steering system in just one month. At that time none of the parties would have thought that they would accumulate success after success in a short period of time. During the course of twenty years, a software and hardware development center was established in Budapest, which was followed by the company’s many other automotive investments, employing more than a thousand engineers.
In 2019 MadiLancos Studio was given the task of creating a modern office and laboratory complex that inspires employees to new ideas, an environment that provides space for creativity, where teams can connect with each other in a completely self-organized, spontaneous way.
Thyssenkrupp’s engineers moved from several buildings with very different characteristics to the new HQ building. The design was preceded by a detailed exploration of the needs and a detailed technical assessment of the building led by MadiLancos Studio. The designers examined the entire cross-section of the Thyssenkrupp team with a series of questionnaires and interviews. The aim was to determine
what kind of workplaces, community and collaboration spaces are necessary for effective work, and what comfort requirements the new office must satisfy. The “workplace strategy” based on the results emphasized collaboration.
Each office floor has a themed work café near the entrance. Numerous meeting, focus and Skype rooms have been created around the workplaces. By theming the work cafés, the various office areas gained their own identity. This variety encourages colleagues to explore, promoting communication and meetings between teams. Employees were responsible for choosing the topics, which they could vote for based on mood boards.
There is an alpine hut (hütte), a seaside surfer’s bungalow, a forest camp site, a library, a railway train car and a cafe evoking the atmosphere of a desert oasis. Other cafés guide you to the world of movies: Star Wars, Mars, Comics and Cinema. You can actually watch a movie while drinking coffee, while sitting in real cinema seats. You can chat and relax among real plants in the Garden and Jungle cafes. The plants also appear in the workspace, in baskets suspended around the structural pillars.
The canteen and the „We lounge” area is situated ont he terraced top floor of the building with games and relaxation rooms. Thanks to the connection to the terrace, you can have lunch outdoors in good weather, enjoying the view. The outdated toilet blocks were completely rebuilt with expanded capacity. Surveys have shown that a significant number of employees come to work by bicycle, so a comfortable changing room and shower block was created for their convenience.
The work area was taken over by FITOUT Zrt. in 2019 to implement the design. The intervention involved the development and transformation of all the basic systems: mechanical, electrical and security networks of the building. This had to be solved within reasonable cost limits and without disturbing other tenants. The key to the success of the project was close and efficient cooperation between Thyssenkrupp, the designers and the contractors. Thyssenkrupp’s new office and exciting social spaces offer colleagues an attractive alternative to the option of home officing.
