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--- AArriba, despacho privado con varios puestos de trabajo. Debajo, sala de reunión abierta.
--- AAbove, private office with several workstations. Below, open meeting room.
of Bilbao-, with another more private or concentration area on the top
floor. “It is a maxim of our studio that design should be oriented not
only from a visual perspective, but that functionality should also be key.
In the workspaces we seek concentration but we also want to feel at
home,” says the studio’s architect, Sergio Sañudo.
The materials and finishes show Estudio Monochrome’s taste for designing
balanced spaces but with character. A balance between that industrial
point with the continuous resin flooring and the exposed concrete
ceiling, the comfort of natural oak in the cladding and furniture
elements, and the use of textiles and upholstery to provide warmth.
La vie en rose
As soon as we enter the office, an inescapable element strikes us: a
central staircase with a perforated sheet metal structure, finished in
fluorescent pink. In addition to its aesthetic function, the staircase serves
to link several existing commercial premises on the ground floor
and a connection with an old storage basement. The design tries to
attract the greatest amount of natural light to the basement, giving the
space a three-section staircase with a central eye. The rest of the common
work space is located on the 2 upper floors, which are connected
to each other by an existing internal staircase.
But, in addition to attracting light, “it is a visual landmark that provides
a special character, given that it is the first contact with the centre from
the street, and also a prelude to what remains to be discovered. The
staircase is located in such a way that it becomes the background for
the main façade and the project’s point of reference, both from an interior
and an exterior perspective”, explains Álvaro Fernández, architect
at Estudio Monochrome.