Corporate Projects
Renovation and furnishing of offices in Versailles.
My client, a Spanish civil engineering company, created an affiliate company in France and set up headquarters in Versailles. I designed the space (250 meter square), supervised the renovation works, procurement and final installation. The design was based around the client’s work, so I used ‘raw’ materials – solid wood flooring, clear lacquered steel for table chairs and legs, solid wood table tops (with raw edge where practical), non-toxic wood fibre desk tops that look like concrete… The color palette was the client’s corporate colors, yellow, anthracite gray, pale gray and white.
Versailles, département des Yvelines
Before: entrance
After : I wanted guests and clients to be welcomed into Ferrovial's headquarters and to have a comfortable space to wait for meetings or relax between meetings. I branded this area with the company's color palette.
Before: open space working area
After: the open space working area is used for different types of working – hot desks and project work. We wanted to be able to vary the way the space is used and the way employees and visiting teams use the space. Hence the different table heights and wide spaces between desks.
After: to showcase my client's expertise, I designed a mural with photos from their previous civil engineering projects. These photos are also hung in large format throughout the offices.
After: The use of clear lacquered steel (as opposed to a colored coated steel) and solid wood reinforce the client's corporate identity as civil engineers using raw materials.
Before: seating area by entrance
After: redesigned seating area. The flooring was changed to solid oak planks. Again the furniture uses raw materials and the corporate color palette.
Before: office
After: redesigned office using an industrial style relevant to the client's civil engineering work
After: seating area, previously unused space
After: large format photos in the corridor showcase my client's previous civil engineering projects
Before: dining area
After: dining area, rebranded with corporate colors, appropriate industrial style furniture and photos of my client's past civil engineering projects. This space can also be used for working, again with two different heights fo tables and chairs.
Transformation of a bank branch into a coworking space
As Interior Design is my second career, after I had retrained I looked for an office space (being a social person, working at home full-time is not for me!). As there weren’t any suitable solutions near home, and having studied the market, I decided to create a coworking space which is now my office. I bought the space (100 meter square), supervised the building works, chose and installed the furniture, and opened in September 2019. TheHubSevres.fr
Sèvres, département Hauts de Seine
Before: The space was a Société Générale bank branch (ironic as I used to be employed as an Management Consultant by SG!).
After: The front door now opens on the Living Room (in hommage to a Serge Gainsbourg song that I love, 'Intoxicated Man', where he growls 'Living rrrrrooouuummm'!), now a welcoming and comfortable sitting area, open kitchen and dining area.
After: In the Living Room the kitchen is partially hidden by a bar with a 'live edge' wooden top, inlaid with resin of the same colour as the tiles.
After: View of the kitchen, equipped with microwave, oven, fridge-freezer and a dishwasher. Drawers and cupboard doors don't have handles to help them blend in.
After: The open workspace is separated from the Living Room and the office beyond with atelier style windows and doors to let the light through and give the impression that the space is bigger. Desks are on casters to make them easier to move and the space more modular.
After: Every part of the space has been optimised, here with a custom wall-desk.
After: This is a phone box called 'Sky Blue'. All spaces which are only used temporarily have been situated so as to maximise the natural light for the spaces which are occupied for longer periods. I converted a long corridor into a small room for video meetings, two phone boxes and the technical room. This last room contains the electricity meter, fuse board, IT server, hot water heated and A3 printer. All in 27 sq ft so as to optimise the rest of the space and hide the unsightly technical parts.
After: This room used to be the safety deposit room of the bank! It was made from a cube of double reinforced concrete which was poured on-site 40 years ago. I was able to demolish the wall separating the space from the Living Room and also cut out a square for the window - hence the banquette!
After: Another office. I made use of all the big windows to maximise natural light. The curtains and velvet-covered chair soften the lines and help with acoustics.
After: Courtyard office. The dark window frames continue the atelier window theme. The desk tops are the same throughout the space, custom made of a non-toxic wood fibre which is coloured 'en masse' - so you can cut it and the edges are the same colour as the top and bottom.