The third skin
The Denys & von Arend studio created the interior design project for the Coatresa headquarters in Barcelona, healthy
offices which have been inspired by the concept of ‘the third skin’.
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Coatresa is a second-generation family business
specializing in coatings for bakery
moulds. The generational change has been
the definitive impulse to buy a new industrial
warehouse with the aim of uniting the factory
and central offices within the same space,
generating a corporate environment that encompasses
the different departments and that
fosters the connection between the manufacturing
process and the office.
The premise of the company’s new management
team was to obtain PassiveHaus standards,
optimizing resources through passive
techniques that make the building efficient, in
order to achieve a totally healthy environment.
The `third skin’: from home to office
To approach the design concept, the Denys &
von Arend studio team began with the importance
of the non-stick and anti-corrosion coatings
manufactured by Coatresa to create the
concept of “The third skin”.
Hundertwasser’s 5-skin theory comprises:
the first factor is the epidermis, the second
is clothing, the third is the home, the fourth
is the social environment, and the fifth is the
world environment. “We created an analogy
regarding the third skin that corresponds to
the home, and that for us will be our office. So
we began to think about how that third skin
could be developed within this project”. explain
Denys & von Arend. A skin that articulates
the factory, through which it is possible to
generate a space that allows it to be isolated
from the rest, but without turning its back on
everything that happens around it, in such a
way that communication flows.
Refined industrial style
The project started with a totally undressed
and industrial space. “We were inspired by the
idea of one of their products, the bread maker
moulds, where the presence of repetition will
create a pattern, a repetition of elements that
will bring a certain rhythm to the interior
design”, was the comment from the Denys
& von Arend. An office with movement has
been created by means of a metal mesh that
works as a visual filter between areas, separating
them, but without dividing them, thanks
to their semi-transparency. A feeling of seeing
without being seen is generated.
Linings and separators of different textures
have been combined, mixing quilted finishes
with other harder ones and adding richness
and variety to the surroundings. The different
volumes and different heights generate boxes
within the nave and dividers that generate new
routes within the office. By adding more or less
skins, more private and other more permeable
spaces are created to respond to different needs:
meeting rooms, informal meeting space,
‘phone booths’, etc. The sum of the different
elements: skins, patterns, dividers, light, variety
of textures, makes the office an elegant,
timeless space with an atmosphere that invites
productivity, team or individual work, offering
a place where employees interact socially and
professionally in a healthy environment.