Inside A Playful Coworking Space In Germany

We all know by now that the world of work has undergone a seismic shift. However, there is still much debate about how future workplaces will look and how they’ll accommodate the evolving habits and needs of new generations of users. Architects and designers are currently in a significant phase of experimentation, striving to determine the next iteration of the “office”—if it can even still be called that—and how these spaces might entice workers away from their homes.

In Laatzen, an industrial area on the outskirts of Hanover, Germany, Ippolito Fleitz Group has taken the experimental approach to an extreme in an effort to redefine this spatial category. The firm’s interiors for Brainhouse247, a coworking brand, have transformed a five-level 1970’s building—formerly a nondescript administrative center for Siemens—into 215,000 square feet of lively, playful environments that provide facilities, flexibility, and fun as compelling incentives for members to show up. “Why are people coming back to the office?” asks Peter Ippolito, an Interior Design Hall of Fame member along with comanaging partner, Gunther Fleitz. “The simple answer is because they want to, not because they have to.”

Ippolito Fleitz Group Builds A Creative Coworking Wonderland

Available to both individuals and corporate employees, Brainhouse247 membership offers round-the-clock access to a diverse range of meeting rooms, lounge and relaxation zones, communal breakout spaces, and food and beverage areas—all designed with an unconventional approach. The concept goes well beyond the beer taps and phone booths of 2010’s coworking startups, one that’s much more refined than the foosball tables and slides of the same decade’s tech-campus wonderland.

Along with more traditional open desk setups, there are specialized facilities for podcasting, photography, 3-D printing, and more, plus a mix of unorthodox places for quiet contemplation or letting off steam, depending on one’s mood.  “We have a room where you don’t see anything because it’s all foggy, offering a moment of quiet,” Ippolito reports. “We even have a room where you can go in and just scream.”

How This Coworking Space Invites Play

In essence, Brainhouse247 is conceived as a landscape of discovery. Each level (four aboveground and one below) features a distinct visual identity but is intentionally left unnamed to encourage users to assign their own monikers, aiding memory and orientation—or so the hope goes. While the top three floors all include a central “marketplace” as a nexus where members can grab coffee, socialize, and relax, each floor has a unique layout and scenario created for it.

On level two, for instance, the “playground” is where collaborative work can take place around circular picnic tables or in pink-upholstered diner-style booths, while on the floor above, presentations can be viewed from brightly hued, stadium-style bleachers mounted on wheels for flexibility. “Everything is agile and mobile,” Fleitz explains. For focused tasks, there are custom cylindrical oak pods, which he refers to as “bird’s nests,” raised a couple of feet off the ground and accessed via short orange ladders. Another option for private calls or concentrated work is a series of color-saturated nooks, created by opening up former exhaust shafts and outfitting them with comfortable sofas and intimate pendant lighting.

Bold Colors + Comfortable Seating Enhance Productivity

Members wishing to stay active while they work can utilize dedicated “walk ’n’ talk” areas or organize powwows with colleagues that incorporate sessions on monkey bars, gymnastic rings, and other exercise equipment. “What we’ve learned from completing a lot of projects in the corporate world is that you can’t ever be innovative enough,” Ippolito observes. “Let’s put it this way, the most unconventional formats we offer are typically used the most.”

The raw bones of the original concrete structure and service ductwork, along with existing features like drywall and tiling, have been left exposed in many instances, creating an intentionally unfinished appearance that alludes to the constant flux of work habits. Colorful heating/cooling ceiling panels were installed in several work areas to improve the building’s energy efficiency, while also helping with acoustics. Bold color is applied fervently throughout, imbuing joy and lightheartedness. From forests of vertical textile ribbons suspended above pillowy lounge chairs and soft ottomans to an area dedicated to playing board games in niches between arched spruce partitions, there’s a palpable emphasis on buoyancy and pleasure around every corner.

To further enliven the interiors, street art–style graphics featuring a cast of deftly sketched characters festoon many walls, enhancing the patchwork effect created by the many layered elements. “We love collage because it allows the user to develop their own story,” Ippolito notes. “They see what they want to see, and they connect it with their own memories.” The facility will eventually include restaurants, a fitness center, and maker workshops, among other ame­nities on the ground floor, offering members everything they might need under one roof, if they choose. Choice is a fundamental principle of the project, emphasizing IFG’s contention that the future of work ultimately revolves around freedom—however that may manifest aesthetically.

Swing Through Brainhouse247’s Transformation By Ippolito Fleitz Group

IPPOLITO FLEITZ GROUP: LENA GRZIB; NADINE BATZ; ERKIN SAGIR; MANU DANKHED; KERRY PLIENINGER; NEELE KELINGARN; KATJA HEINEMANN; ARSEN ALIVERDIIEV; JUAN MANUEL DE AYARRA DEL OLMO; TIM LESSMANN; TIMO FLOTT; ROGER GASPERLIN; CHRISTIAN KIRSCHENMANN; JOHANNES HANEBUTH. AG LICHT: LIGHTING CONSULTANT. SUPER 8 STUDIO: GRAPHICS CONSULTANT. LINDNER: CUSTOM FURNITURE, INSTALLATIONS.

OBJECT CARPET: CARPET (TRANSITION SPACE, PRIVATE DESKS). PEDRALI: SOFA, ARMCHAIRS (PRIVATE DESKS). KÖNIG + NEURATH: DESKS. ARPER: ACOUSTIC DESK PANELS. NAIN TRADING: RUG. WÄSTBERG: DESK LAMPS (PRIVATE DESKS), LARGE PENDANT FIXTURE (PLAYGROUND). MARAZZI: PORCE­LAIN FLOOR TILE (PRIVATE DESKS, URBAN SQUARE). VITRA: MESH TASK CHAIRS (PRIVATE DESKS, CONFERENCE ROOM). BLÅ STATION: OTTOMANS (BLEACHERS, URBAN SQUARE). FATBOY: LOUNGE CHAIRS (URBAN SQUARE). NEMO LIGHTING: VERTICAL PENDANT FIXTURES. BRUNNER: STEEL CHAIRS (URBAN SQUARE), TABLE (CON­FERENCE ROOM). FLURSTÜCK: CARPET (PLAYGROUND). EQUIPE CERÁMICAS: WALL TILES. MUUTO: SOFA (NOOK). &TRADITION: PENDANT FIXTURE.