The new HQ for Chinese startup Xiaozhu in Beijing’s tech hub is a solid case-in-point for how we, as an industry, need to tackle integrated technology.
January 18th, 2017
Integrated technology is a moving target. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, the technology you’ve only just mastered becomes completely – laughably – obsolete. In truth, it’s maddening, if not impossible, to produce lasting results for clients that don’t require significant upgrades within the year.
Though it’s proven hopeless for many a-workplace-designer, there are those special few leading the way, creating sustainable work environments that are not only kitted-out with the latest and greatest in commercial tech, but that are flexible enough to upgrade at any time with little impact on the original design concept.
A recent example is the new HQ for Chinese startup Xiaozhu – a peer-to-peer housing rental service located within Beijing’s CBD tech hub. Designed by People’s Architecture Office and People’s Industrial Design Office, the ‘Sliced House’ project is a highly mutable work environment for Xiaozhu, who required an office interior fit for the fast-pace and unpredictable nature of their website business.
To pair the design with the nature of the brand, the ‘sliced house’ incorporates spaces and furniture that easily combines and separates mobile meeting rooms, as well as power outlets that swing to desired locations.
The interior design approach here inserts the casual comfort of home life within the workplace through an a series of residential-style areas throughout the space. Featuring a set of small rooms split around an open, shared interior, the more private areas provide the impression of domesticity, including a kitchen, living room, and even a bedroom. Within the large flexible zone, converted tricycles create workspaces and informal meeting rooms on wheels.
To really meet the needs of their client, PDO also created custom-designed furniture, including: the long span cantilevering tables which offer undisrupted space underneath for great seating flexibility; the numerous mobile Tetris tables that can be detached, combined, and rearranged to form workstations for groups or individuals; and large red ‘umbrellas’ which swivel to different locations, providing overhead lighting as well as a electricity outlets and mild acoustic properties.
Ultimately, the lesson here is that as a designer, you just can’t keep up with technology. You really can’t. And trying to is a sure-fire ticket to the mad house. The best you can do for your clients and your practice is to understand the needs of current technological culture (both the technology itself, and how people use it) enough to design spaces that are flexible enough to implement these rapid changes at will. Anything else is a job for Sisyphus – and no one wants to be that guy.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
Channelling the enchanting ambience of the Caffè Greco in Rome, Budapest’s historic Gerbeaud, and Grossi Florentino in Melbourne, Ross Didier’s new collection evokes the designer’s affinity for café experience, while delivering refined seating for contemporary hospitality interiors.
If you’ve heard Tristram Carfrae speak, then you know he is a pretty inspiring individual. He is a natural leader of people and monumental projects that represent change for good. In this interview he speaks about Arup’s “secret sauce” and the challenge of channelling Gaudi.
She thinks big and has the credentials to back it up. Returning to the Wellington studio of Warren and Mahoney in 2022, this architect brings home a wealth of expertise.
How does Domenic Alvaro oversee a project from start to finish? Timothy Alouani-Roby met with the Woods Bagot director and global design leader to find out why editors make the best architects and architects the best editors.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Nazcaa boasts a statement design for a singular restaurant and it’s right at home on the Dubai hospitality scene.
The Australian Design Centre (ADC) this year celebrates 60 years! A series of events are coming up to mark the occasion.