*사운드클라우드 헤드쿼터[ Kinzo ] Soundcloud headquarter

국제적인 온라인 뮤직 플랫폼, 사운드 클라우드의 헤드쿼터 리노베이션 프로젝트는 베를린 장벽, 인근에 위치한 기존 양조공장의 3개층(4,000sqm)을 재구성한다. 온라인상의 활발한 음악적 교류를 제공하는 유명한 허브를 목표로 180명 직원들에 원스탑 오피스 환경을 인큐베이터 퍼니쳐와 함께 구축한다. 기존 장소의 캐릭터(산업환경)는 오피스르 리노베이션하는 또 하나의 매력적 장치로 기존 작업장(양조공장)의 천장과 벽을 구획하는 벽돌 및 콘크리트를 노출, 새롭게 제안되는 소음재 및 재료와 함께 열린 비즈니스 플랜을 형성한다. -음악에 대한 온/오프라인의 비즈니스 환경의 소통을 지향- 이를 통해 구현된 오피스는회사가 지향하는 자율성 및 다양성에 부합되는 다양한 개별 작업실과 미팅룸 그리고 열린 작업공간등을 준비하며 유연한 작업환경 속에 효율적인 크리에이티브 비즈니스를 생성한다.

reviewed by SJ,오사

The new headquarters of internationally renowned online platform SoundCloud cover three levels and approx. 4,000 square metres of an old brewery building close to the former Berlin Wall. The complex, designed to serve as a future incubator for up-and-coming start-ups, will become the one-stop office for all 180 Berlin employees of the foremost hub for musical exchange on the net. Anticipating future expansion of the rapidly growing SoundCloud platform, the spacious offices could potentially accommodate up to 350 desks.

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Responsible partner: Karim El-Ishmawi, Martin Jacobs,
Project leader: Timo Nerger
Cooperation: Manfred Kaiser, Laura Liberal, Stefanie Pesel, Ina Podzimek, David Schrumm, Susanne Trumpf, Nora Zimmermann
Specialist planners: Akustikbüro Rahe & Kraft GmbH (room acoustics), Dinnebier + Blieske (lightning design), Häfner Ingenieure GmbH (HCAC - heating, ventilation, air conditioning)
Components: Daniel Peters Möbelbau, Delafair GmbH, kubix Gesellschaft für Entwicklung und Produktion temporärer Bauten mbH, Zimmerservice Scheuerling + Neumann GbR
Building equipment: Cofely Deutschland GmbH (air-condition technology), Elektrotechnik Elaro GmbH

To provide the company and its new HQ with a matching spatial identity and the right architectural framework for the platform’s novel business and working structures, SoundCloud asked KINZO to turn its new hub into a space that exudes and encourages innovation and creativity.

The platform envisaged a welcome beacon in Berlin’s office landscape that both shapes the company and evolves with SoundCloud over the years. Against this background, KINZO’s conversion redefines the rules of office design with its tangible reflection of a virtual community.

While KINZO's design interventions retain the former factory’s industrial charm, they also emphasise the location’s characteristics to create just the right space for such a young and expanding business.

From open work spaces and café-meets-reception area to various themed rooms – each space at the new SoundCloud HQ promotes flexible use scenarios and the platform's ingrained culture of constant creative exchange. Thanks to subtle accents and interventions, introduced according to need, the mood shifts from urban exchange to private retreat, from bustling public space to cosy living room.

In order to preserve the location’s factory feel, KINZO decided to retain the brewery’s raw appeal, leaving the building's original brickwork and ceiling details exposed. Underscoring this aesthetic, all technical installations are clearly on display, snaking across the naked surfaces in an ornamental meets- functional pattern that juxtaposes old and new.

The only substantial alteration to the structure’s original architecture can be found between the two lower-most levels: Here, a two-storey atrium and staircase now serves as the main hub of communication for the new SoundCloud universe. Versatile to the core, both space and fittings can adapt according to requirement – thanks to the flexible architecture, potential uses range from reception and bar to cinema, panel discussion and beyond.

At the same time – and in line with the platform’s ultimate aim – sound (or acoustics) remain the red thread of KINZO’s overall design concept. A vital and oft-neglected aspect of any space, due to its functional, work-related and identity-defining significance, sound naturally takes pride of place in all SoundCloud-related considerations.

Here, KINZO once again experiments with further and playful uses to make the most of acoustic materials beyond their sound-optimising properties. Imbued with new life and meaning, they might resurface as cladding for the specially designed drop lights ("Krautleuchten") or as abstracted sound waves and light diffusors nesting underneath the ceilings of shared spaces. After all, KINZO likes to give all material dual starring roles.

In this spirit, KINZO stays true to its holistic design approach with the SoundCloud HQ conversion and turns a heterogeneous use structure into a sound and cohesive concept. Drawing on their shared Berlin roots, the architects managed to supply the thriving start-up with just the right architectural foundations for future growth and (r)evolution.

from dezeen