BearingPoint says goodbye to bench desking

Studios Architecture has redesigned BearingPoint's offices in La Défense, west of Paris. The management and technology consultancy operates in some thirty countries and wanted to establish a new office fit-out standard that could be repeated across its other offices.

The client's brief had several strands. First, the firm employs consultants who spend much of their time away from the office, which calls for a proactive approach to welcoming them when they are in. Second, staff days are punctuated by meetings with differing needs and numbers of participants, which requires flexible, adaptable spaces.

The architects' idea was to recreate the atmosphere of New York cafés, rather than that of a start-up! The difference is expressed first of all in the choice of furniture. The project does not seek to create an open-plan office lined with rows of bench desks interspersed with half-height storage units.

The team led by associate architect Hidekazu Moritani has introduced furniture that evokes the home or the corner café. This choice makes the workplace more human and gives it a more personal, more intimate and therefore more reassuring feel.

Furthermore, there are no assigned desks. Working closely with the client, the architects at Studios Architecture have designed a range of distinct spaces so that every employee can choose the setting that suits them.