KN Group has completed the new premises of EDENRED in Greece, featuring high-quality and environmentally friendly materials. The new offices are housed on the second floor of the recently renovated ΙXI office building, in Moschato area, Athens. The existing building was radically renovated in accordance with the LEED environmental certification standards, turning it into an aesthetically modern office space. The design team chose to reuse elements of the existing building following the principles of circular economy and equipped the space with high-performance technologies, aiming at leaving the lowest possible environmental footprint.
The former industrial space of 840m2 featured a square-free plan, a sparse grid of high circular columns and characteristic linear openings around the perimeter with a high apron. The influences of modernist architecture in the existing shell -clear geometries, free-sightedness, and linearity- were preserved in the interiors. The architectural approach aimed at placing the main working areas around the perimeter, next to the elevation openings, in a way that achieves optimal lighting and ventilation of the space as well as free access to the view. The design of the workspaces in the elevated section was based on an open-plan model, where the different workgroups are delimited by light dividers, such as green islands and transparent dividers with colored frames. In the center of the floor, all co-working spaces are gathered in a polymorphic green construction with folding openings, where teams can chat and interact, meet customers, host events, and promote their services. The external folding curtain walls of the central structure as well as the wide steps of the elevated section, which can also be used as low stands, are open to multiple uses. A large wooden island, on the boundary between the raised floor and the central space, creates a workbench with storage space. In this space, 16 facing workstations are completed by different heights of ergonomic Rookie chairs by Konstantin Grcic. The closed offices feature colored partitions incorporated glass, which was removed from the previous façade of the building and reused. A wooden beam, a remnant of the adjacent lines of the electric railway, was used to create a stair on the site. Cabinets, bookcases with geometric shapes, colors, and textures create storage areas for living rooms or work benches for employees. Break areas are designed as poles of interaction and teamwork, like the two Royal Stranger armchairs which create a welcoming space next to a small library. KN Group created a multi-purpose space that supports the user in multiple ways while highlighting a modern perception of office space.
