Project Info
Architects: Za Bor Architects
Location: Moscow, Russia
Project Management: Mott MacDonald
Area: 2,025 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Peter Zaytsev
General Contractor: Altaca
Engineering Solution: Mott MacDonald, Altaca, za bor architects
Introduction
Castrol is a global brand and leading manufacturer of engine oils and greases. This British company is a part of BP group of companies. Nevertheless it’s famous for strict corporate style, it was definitely expressive and bright decisions of za bor architects that were chosen for the project of expansion and renovation of Castrol office in Moscow. Architects managed to implement the famous Castrol’s tagline: «It’s more than just oil. It’s liquid engineering» into the office space. Namely the idea of liquidity, versatile fluid – oil – was taken as a basis for this office conception. Though, shallowness, which is indicative for liquids, gave way for curved dynamic objects, distinctive for za bor architects projects.
Details
The office occupies 10th and 11th levels of Paveletskaya plaza business centre. It is an open-space with several meeting rooms and cafeterias, separated with dynamic curved volumes. No prominent replanning was projected, but the office extended a little. Renewed open-spaces were filled with dynamic bright objects – curved volumes of meeting rooms, coffee points and cafeterias. It’s interesting that two of the conference rooms were separated with a modular wall and can be easily transformed into one with a total area of 54 meters. The office holds 162 workplaces.
The original sectional lamps developed by za bor architects are installed in the main corridors and several conference rooms. Total length of these sections is more than 100 meters. The longest of them is 45m long – these unique ad-hoc built-in objects were constructed on-site. Ceiling sections around the lamps were not covered with acoustic material, like in other zones, but were left as is, with communication lines colored in black. This is what emphasized complex curved objects of these giant lamps.
Reception desk was also one of the interesting architectural decisions – due to matte glass and ceramic stone, its outlines seem blurred. Branded prints from race tracks are used as decorative elements (you may see them in meeting rooms). There are also flower parterres and color tiles in the carpet, that increase the idea of liquidity, maintained with the giant lamps.
