Jet Office / Pracownia Architektoniczna Insomia

Architects

Pracownia Architektoniczna Insomia
Location

Poznan, Poland
Design Team

Szymon Januszewski, Agnieszka Liguz, Julek Dudniczek, Marta Gasiorek, Marcin Calka
Area

2450.0 sqm
Project Year

2012
Photographs

Fotoarchitektura.pl- Anna Gregorczyk

The main reason for the extraordinary shape of the building was a narrow and triangular plot. Such a dynamic shape ought to be, in our opinion emphasized by a matching dynamic form. The plot is a wedge between two busy streets: Piątkowska st. & Aleje Solidarności st. and a tramway line. Paradoxically, vast number of limitations and prescriptions made the design process much easier. The parallels about the building looking like a vessel are funny on one hand, but quite accurate on the other. The form had to be “sharpen” giving the outcome of marine analogies. Jet Office is a shape and form, not a decoration.

We assumed that the ideal office building's plan is that of a square or a rectangular shape. In the design process of Jet Office we had to abandon that scheme. Blueprint of a building is about zoning, features and mutual relations. We've programmed the building interior so that it is possible to adapt and reshape, keeping pace with the needs. As a result we came up with a minimal communication area, shared toilets and an office space easy to partition and alter. It is worth mentioning, that scarcely the open space offices are rectangular. Our goal was to design a product that with all its features would give a competitive edge on the market- all in all architecture is a business as well.

The weight bearing structure was made of reinforced concrete pillars and plate. From the beginning, the structural rigidness was hard to achieve- the form made the structure act like a sail. We did all we could so it did not fly away.

High standard of interiors is composed of best quality materials: painted MDF, tinted glass, perforated metal sheets and sanded wood. The overall appearance is modest in form, toned.Evacuation staircases, for instance, are made of concrete which was left unfinished. We envision raw concrete as very suitable material to use in interior design. It is not a cheap solution, as one might think. Raw concrete always presents a huge problem for the contractors on construction site. Concrete is not an easy material to be left bare, builders will always seek some sort of render to cover its' uniqueness and beauty.

Blatancy wears down fast. It should be remembered, especially in our country, with the cornucopia of different, unsuited elements in urban contexts of Polish cities. This calls for some sort of toned, stable and timeless accents in cityscape. The main entrance to the building is located from Winirska st., less busy than surrounding routs. We could not resist to soften the stiffness and pompous character of white collar working environment. Through introduction of fragments of hilarious script of Stanislaw Bareja's movie- “Co mi zrobisz jak mnie złapiesz?” (“What will you do if you catch me?”) to one of the elevators' cabin. The placement of quotations makes it irresistible not to interact with it, and read “I shave myself, eat breakfast and go to sleep”.