The project was developed at the invitation of Cluj-Napoca based IT&C company iQuest. The later decided to relocate their headquarters in one of Cluj’s main textile garments factory - Flacara. Based on the competition brief and our in-house documentation process, the project rests on three conceptual pillars. These will be found within the two major spatial categories: the Cell and the Core with the corresponding 9 subcategories (3 for the cell and 6 for the nucleus).
1st pillar - Perforations: The project weaves mores storylines into a very custom made narrative. The later speculates the common link between the IT&C industry and the textile industry - Jacquard's loom and its punch cards as well as the successive iterations of the personal computer up to the present days. The references to the punch cards and textile industry are visible in/from all of the project's spaces: the proposed graphical identity, the ceiling and the restrooms tiling. The latter is inspired from Romanian traditional men's and women's outfits.
2nd pillar - Personality: The emphasis that iQuest puts on its people and their personality is reflected within the project through the custom designed furniture objects. The later allow the expression of people's personalities (e.g. pictures of their families, team building manufactures, trophies, medals, personal items). All of these items can be seen by anyone but, through their compartmentalisation they do not dominate the identity of the firm which, after all, is more than the sum of the people who compose it.
3rd pillar - School: After carefully analysing the spaces of some of the most prestigious universities in the world we concluded that their particular atmosphere is reinforced through the surfaces designated for writing, the areas meant to capture ideas. These areas can be found in all of the building's spaces and not just in the meeting rooms. As such we decided to cover part of office buildings' walls in green blackboard. They will relate directly to the workspace of the teams so that unexpected meetings can occur as quickly as possible without the hassle of scheduling meeting rooms.
At a spatial level, the Cell represents the current level that contains work areas for individual teams, recreation areas, offices, training rooms and multimedia room.
The core is the central area that contains all the meeting rooms, the offices and restrooms.
Between the highlights of the project are the two antithetical recreation areas: one adjacent to the south facade called the Garden and one adjacent to the north facade called the Hearth. The two places gravitate around one central object each: a tree for the Garden (could be Photinia, Prunus Laurocerasus or Aucuba Japonica) and a fireplace for the Hearth.
Design Team: Paul-Mihai Moldovan, Florin-Vasile Lazar, Anamaria Moldovan, Eszter Szoke
Collaborator[s]: Adrian Urda, Adrian Ovidiu Bucin
Design Year: 2015
Status: Competition 2nd place
Execution | Completion Year: -
Location: Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Gross area: 1.875 sqm
Text: ateliercetrei
Photographer[s]: -