Goldfields

The current floor plan consists of typical cellular offices along the facade and an oversized hallway in the center. The basic idea is to introduce a series of perpendicular walls that will organize the space. By ‘inflating’ these partitioning walls they can become storage spaces.
The Thick Walls™ can take different shapes to introduce specific functionalities and atmospheres.

The open plan with the Thick Walls™ divides the space in several clusters of different sizes. As opposed to a regular layout with cells linked to a corridor, a continuous, flowing space is created. Traffic space is eliminated: gross becomes net!

The main asset of this system is increased connectivity; instead of a workforce relatively isolated in cells, here interaction will come natural.

The perpendicular Wall Unit explores the spatial potential of the building; an extensive ‘field’ condition is created while keeping a sense of compactness and intimacy.

In the near future NS Stations plans to introduce the so-called flex-work system which means no more fixed workstations but a range of specific working environments to choose from. The proposed layout will be able to accommodate this intricate workflow, but for the time being most of the clusters will be organized as fixed working stations.

Each floor will be introduced by a ‘special’: a singular piece of furniture located at the elevator core that represents the different departments. This ‘conversation piece’ is a kind of welcoming gesture: perhaps a logo-shaped bench, a swinging multifunctional lounge chair, a 2 story high candy machine, a sculptural reading table spelling NS, a Happy Hour clock maybe…