A tilted glass ring – the “Orona Zero” office and administration building in south San Sebastián, Spain, boasts the kind of attractive, futuristic architecture that may very well appeal to sci-fi fans. Its interior features exquisite furniture by Arper that serves to define informal meeting zones and underscores the premises’ cool elegance.
Architects Xabier Barrutieta, Eneko Goikoetxea, Javier de la Fuente and Santiago Pérez have designed a C-shaped flat building, open at its southern end, 90 meters in diameter and housing not only offices and conference rooms but also a gallery in its south wing. The building’s glazed shell is made up of triangular elements and functions as a real eye-catcher: the interplay of opaque, translucent and transparent elements makes for an exceptionally lively façade. This architecture with its futuristic feel also determines the building’s interior – with the corridors in the gallery featuring banks of floor-to-ceiling windows and inclined steel girders. The design for the rooms is correspondingly cool and understated – with floors in anthracite stone, paneling with a black finish, and ceilings that are also black, rounded out by rows of parallel lights which underscore the impression created by the long corridors. Different zones structure the spacious rooms and are ideal for ad-hoc, informal meetings between colleagues who can enjoy the comfort of superior seating by Arper.
The comfortable chairs, ottomans and side tables boast the distinctive and original style of Arper which has been interpreted by international designers with many different cultural backgrounds: hard edges combined with gently curving areas and simple elegance – a design without unnecessary frills and one that superbly complements the building’s interior. Accordingly, the architects present the chairs in the gallery from the “Catifa 46” range in the same futuristic style as the edifice’s shell. Placed inside transparent room-in-room structures rather like glass capsules, the chairs, with their paper-thin seat shells in green, gray and red, are offering an ideal location for private meetings. And anyone who prefers a rather more casual ambience can alight on the nearby gray settee, “Loop”, which (thanks to special add-on elements that can be extended on a modular basis) can be arranged in a semicircle, thus representing another “haven of relaxation” in the gallery. By contrast, the office swivel chairs from the “Aston office” range have a functional yet sophisticated feel to them, with their chromed bases and soft black leather covers. They provide another comfortable option for lengthy business meetings. (sb)
A nimbus for Arper: In the gallery of „Orona Zero”, the zones with colorful chairs “Palm” by Lievore Altherr Molina are enlightened with a white ring above the transparent “capsules”. All Photos © Jon Atxutegi
„Pix“, designed by Ichiro Iwasaki makes fun:
Big and small ottomans in various shades of green set up fresh color accents and mark combined with “Dizzie” tables, designed by Lievore Altherr Molina a comfortable zone next to the conference rooms.
Back to the essential: The reduced design of the conference area takes the focus on the façade with translucent, transparent and opaque elements. Also the office swivel chairs “Aston Office”, designed by Jean-Marie Massaud are impressing without any needless décor – with four way base in polished aluminum and black upholstery in faux leather.
Not the interior, it’s the room perspective with integrated light lines at the ceiling, which is accentuated. For the conference room the architects chose the chairs “Catifa 46”, designed by Lievore Altherr Molina with filigree sled base in chromed stainless steel and bichromed seating shell.
