Page 74 - Designing Ways 262

Crossboundaries'

Transformable

Workplace

Beijing, China

Changing scenarios for an post-COVID work life
What kind of synergies can be discovered in a new ecology balancing
environmental, social, and cultural dimensions?

The answer should be a living environment that actively transforms
the office mode. By the end of 2020, the two most significant
typologies for everyday use as a society were abruptly shaken by
COVID-19. The home, as a place of life, and the office, as a place of
work, were being reconsidered.
Taking all of this into account, Crossboundaries began dreaming
of a future typology that could fluctuate and adapt to a variety of
rapidly changing scenarios. While some design factors were open for
reconsideration - size, atmosphere, occupation, and communication
strategies - the workspace remains intentionally unchanged in the
same neighbourhood as the firm’s previous office.

Located on the top floor of a five-story educational institution that
had already undergone several renovations, the office was a fairly
new add-on steel structure attached to the concrete skeleton of the
building. This provided an almost 360-degree view and exposure to
North, South, and East that assures sunlight throughout the day. Users
were not the only agent to be taken into account: cycles and rhythms
of the building, its urban surroundings, and even the furniture and
logistics that the architectural practice needs to operate with were all
factors to work with.
Large meeting room with view towards the main space

The grey curtaining is suspending from a lightweight curtain rail

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