February 15, 2020

Text: Jesse Dorris

Visual Display’s Office Design for Autostar is Openly Unconventional

A meeting space near the entrance offers a Fantoni conference table and ICF task chairs, beneath a custom neon sign; the chairs and pouf in front are La Cividina, with a Hay table. Photography by Rocco Taglialegne.

When the Italian automotive sales group Autostar approached Udine-based studio Visual Display to create its new workplace, management didn’t just want a new office. “We were called to design something unconventional,” says CEO and founder Giorgio Di Bernardo, “an iconic and distinctive place.”

In the dramatic kitchen area, Flos sconces illuminate a custom table by Tabula Woods, with Hay stools, near seating by La Cividina. Photography by Rocco Taglialegne.

They answered that call with a 4,300-square-foot open space largely without borders, but with a large central volume of 3D felt concealing a meeting room, photography studio, and back-office technical areas. Autostar’s 50 or so employees move around single and shared workstations illuminated by a custom lighting system that varies in intensity depending upon the amount of natural light and kept quiet by a sound-masking system integrated into the ceiling.

A social area outside the meeting room includes a La Cividina sofa, Tacchini chairs, and a table by Billiani, all upon a Karpeta rug. Photography by Rocco Taglialegne.

Collaboration and relaxation are encouraged in the large kitchen area, with a communal ash table and coffered ceiling. “It’s an open space with a certain degree of privacy,” Di Bernardo says. “And most of all a place where one could breath innovation. Flexible as a museum space but comfortable as a domestic environment.” Sounds distinctive to us.

Sammode Studio sconces line a hallway, with Tacchini stools and custom tables. Photography by Rocco Taglialegne.
In the meeting room, Artemide pendants shine upon a Desalto table and Torre 1961 chairs. Photography by Rocco Taglialegne.
Offecct felt acoustic panels cover the walls of a set for photography. Photography by Rocco Taglialegne.

Read more: JHL Design Transforms a Historic Portland Penthouse into a Japan-Inspired Office Suite

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