The aim of the project was to develop a comprehensive vision of the new headquarters of Pivexin Technology.

The designed space consists of an office building with social facilities, a warehouse and the land around the buildings including a driveway, parking area and decorative greenery.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION

Although the office building and the warehouse serve different functions, they needed to be connected to each other (due to the company’s activity). Therefore, we have merged the structures of both buildings and created a coherent and functional system of independent elements – one cuboidal block that includes different types of spaces.

The outer skin of the building is black, however, the two functional blocks - office and industrial - have been diversified.

The elevation of the office building is largely glazed, open and three-dimensional. It has vertical pilasters and horizontal cornices that emphasize the representative front part of the building. The elevation of the warehouse is simple and modest - adapted to the industrial character of this part of the building.

The Pivexin Technology building is noticeable from the busy Gliwicka street - it became a landmark. The black cuboid combining office and industrial functions is the dominant feature in the landscape.

URBAN DESIGN

A plot of one hectare has been divided into three zones:

1. Building zone – Cubature

2. (industrial) zone of access, parking and delivery

3. The (office) zone of access and parking in the front

The area at the back of the building was preserved and leveled as a reserve for the possible extension of the warehouse.

The plot declines southwards. The difference in height within the boundaries of the property is about 1.8 m.

The building was located entirely in the upper part of the plot. The office part of the building faces Gliwicka street and clearly exposes the front elevation. The building is highly visible from the road (Gliwice - Racibórz).

The foreground of the office building is paved and includes low greenery and parking area. Both the office building and the warehouse are accessible from the west, that is, from the central part of the plot.

ARCHITECTURE

The building and land development result from the investor's guidelines as well as from the idea created during the design process.

According to the basic objectives, the project includes two buildings: OFFICE BUILDING and WAREHOUSE.

The two buildings were combined into one with external dimensions of 61.5 x 45 metres.

The total area of the building is 3800 m2, including: warehouse -2150 m2 and office building - 1650 m2,

The office area - a representative, two-storey part of the building - is accessible from the front car park.

The entrance zone consists of an open, two-storey high space with a reception area. It has direct access to the conference room and to the spacious lobby and offices.

The office area is arranged into three groups. Along the windows of the north-east elevation there is a row of office rooms. At the other side there are toilets, social rooms and stairs connecting the floors.

On the ground floor, all three groups are connected by a spacious lobby. Owing to the large cut in the ceiling, the lobby creates an open, two-storey space, lit by a roof skylight.

On the first floor, by the open space offices, there are walkways and a seating area for employees with access to an external terrace.

Between the office and industrial parts of the building, there are technical facilities of the warehouse. This space also includes social facilities (cloakroom, toilet, social room) for the employees of the warehouse.

The storage and production part of the warehouse is an open space. The area was divided into two sections: manufacturing and high storage.

COMPOSITION OBJECTIVES – INTERIOR

The design of the new headquarters of Pivexin Technology is functional and modern, while at the same time being compact and minimalist. The clear layout of the space has been tailored to the investor's needs, providing comfortable and functional working conditions.

The interior is mainly white, contrasted with timber cladding and smaller black objects that emphasize the composition. The whole design is complemented by furniture also adapted to the specific functions and the composition objectives.

The interior is clearly minimalist. Glass vertical divisions provide transparency, aesthetic consistency, visibility as well as free flow of daylight flooding in through large facade glazing and the skylight in the central part of the roof.

The office space combines minimalism with indoor greenery. Desktops in the offices contain plants that clearly divide desk islands into individual workplaces. Such an approach provides an element of nature inside the office.

The office is democratic, modern, contemporary. Full of light. It allows for work, but does not forget neither about the symbiosis of man with nature nor the need for interaction between colleagues.

author: MUS ARCHITECTS (http://musarch.pl/)

project name: PIVEXIN Technology - an office building with social facilities and a warehouse.

type: Object (office building)

usable area: 3800 m2, (warehouse –2150 m2 i office building – 1650 m2)

implementation: 2018

location: Wyrobiskowa 4, 47-440 Babice, Poland

photos: Tomasz Zakrzewski

Designed by MUS ARCHITECTS, the Pivexin Technology building in Babice near Racibórz, Poland is a simple but coherent and beautiful object created from a combination of different scales and functions. Central to the design concept is a dark façade with strategic use of solid versus glazed surfaces. Inside, the building is flooded with natural light.

Two Different Uses Within a Cuboidal Form
As the headquarters of Pivexin Technology, this project embraces a comprehensive number of uses as part of serving the different functions of the company. These uses include an office building with social facilities, along with a warehouse. A dominant feature in the landscape, the building is noticeable from the busy nearby Gliwicka Street and has become a landmark in the area.

Although the office and the warehouse serve very different functions, due to the company’s various activities it was necessary that the two uses be linked together. The architectural solution merges the structures and uses of both buildings into a coherent and functional cuboidal block with external dimensions of 61.5 x 45 meters. The total area of the building is 3800 m², with 2150 m² of warehouse space and 1650 m² of usable office building space.

Urban Form and Architectural Layout
The office area occupies the front part of the building and is directly accessible from the front car park. A double volume reception and lobby greets visitors to the building. Thanks to a large cut in the ceiling, the lobby is a spectacular open space lit by a roof skylight. From here, there is direct access to the conference room as well as spacious offices.

Between the office and industrial parts of the building, technical and social facilities for the warehouse are located. The storage and production part of the warehouse is an open space. The area is divided into two sections: manufacturing and high storage. Both the office building and the warehouse are accessible from the west, that is, from the central part of the plot.

Façade as Unifying Element
As a unifying element, the outer skin of the cube is black, however the two functional blocks - being office and warehouse - are visually differentiated.  The façade of the office building is largely glazed, open and three-dimensional. It features vertical pilasters and horizontal cornices that place emphasis on the front of the building. By contrast, the elevation of the warehouse is largely closed, simple and modest in order to suit the industrial character and function of this part of the building.

A Bespoke Solution
The distinctive approach to the interior design includes a bespoke solution. The most visible bespoke solution for Pivexin building was a modified profile from Reynaers Aluminium, which removes the need for vertical mullions. This alteration served a key design requirement, being the provision of plenty of light to the office area inside the building. At the same time as providing substantial daylight to the building’s interior, the selected aluminium system was able to achieve thermal insulation much beyond the requirement  This bespoke solution was crucial to fulfill all the requirements of the project, especially in the “hard to reach” areas, where there was not enough space to easily undertake installation. Further challenges included the specification of using 20 mm laminated glass. Due to the weight, a crane had to be used to lift all the elements during installation inside the building.

A Light Filled Interior
Unlike the dark coloured façade, the office interior is mainly white, with contrasting timber cladding and smaller black accents that emphasize the composition. Full of light, the interior is clearly minimalistic.  Glass vertical divisions provide transparency, aesthetic consistency, visibility as well as free flow of daylight flooding in through large expanses of façade glazing and the skylight in the central part of the roof.

Furthermore, the office space combines minimalism with indoor greenery. Desktops in the offices contain plants that clearly divide desk islands in individual workplaces. Such an approach provides an element of nature inside the office.

Unified by a custom façade, the headquarter building for Pivexin Technology takes a holistic approach to the challenge of connecting two very different and potentially disparate uses. The result is a complex organism with a functional, coherent design.