Ippolito Fleitz Group Creates an Inclusive and Accessible Office for Aktion Mensch in Bonn, Germany

2021 Best of Year Award Winner for Greater Good: Social Impact

With this headquarters, Interior Design Hall of Fame members and co-managing partners Peter Ippolito and Gunter Fleitz and team prove that an accessible workplace can be attractive and inviting. The mission of Aktion Mensch is to provide aid for projects that support people with disabilities, and to advocate for equality and inclusion in society as a whole. In fact, the nonprofit’s motto is “Together we win.” The renovation of its five-story, 46,285-square-foot office puts those values on display, neutralizing disabilities while also celebrating them. It’s a place where differences are normal. So, in addition to transitioning from closed offices to open-plan, improving acoustics, incorporating up-to-date digital technologies, the project also took into account the specific needs of the nearly 15 percent of Aktion Mensch employees who have disabilities themselves. Color plays a huge role in functionality: High-contrast hues make it easier for those with visual impairments to delineate between spaces and allow for a simpler wayfinding system for the learning impaired. Also adding liveliness is a system of modular acoustic panels that each staffer can configure for their own workstation to suit their aesthetics and level of privacy. Purposefully designed to be charmingly asymmetrical, they’re a metaphor for the organization itself. “The shapes have their own personalities,” Ippolito notes, “resembling a gathering of diverse characters, doing something great together.”

Ippolito Fleitz Group: Michael Bertram; Marlene Court; Gunter Fleitz; Pilar Huerta; Peter Ippolito; Christian Kirschenmann; Tim Lessmann; Lea Luckenbach