Underwater Projects in the Podium Park Tower: The New TechnipFMC Office
Recently, the capital of Lesser Poland has earned itself a reputation as a development Eldorado. And this refers not only to residential buildings springing up like mushrooms after rain, but also to modern office space such as Podium Park – a new addition to Krakow’s map. It is undoubtedly one of the most modern and eco-friendly office projects in Poland, holding BREEAM certificates at the Outstanding level. The complex will ultimately consist of three interconnected 11-storey buildings with a total leasable area of over 50,000 sqm. The second building was commissioned in 2020 – and this is where TechnipFMC’s new office is located.
The main design concept of the office is closely linked to TechnipFMC’s activities. The company is a global concern providing technological solutions for the energy industry and specialising in innovative solutions for the extraction of oil and natural gas. It operates both in the field of subsea projects and those taking place on the surface.
The client was very keen that the appearance of the new office should, on the one hand, reference the architecture of other group headquarters and, on the other hand, stand out from the rest.
– Bearing the client’s expectations in mind, we decided that the office should structurally reference what TechnipFMC does – namely, supporting the extraction of raw materials from the seabed. We therefore designated four levels: the first floor is the underwater space, the second represents the water surface, the third and fourth floors are the decks of a floating vessel used in marine operations. Our client very much liked our concept – says arch. Konrad Krusiewicz, founder of The Design Group.
Engineer’s work details in the arrangement
– TechnipFMC is a world leader in energy projects, technologies, systems and services. We also provide our clients with specialist expertise in subsea, onshore/offshore and surface activities. We are leaders of change and we believe in innovation – say Agnieszka Radomska-Przedlacka and Dariusz Włodarczyk from the client’s project team. – The new office in Podium Park, beyond the purely ergonomic aspects and new workspace for employees, contains a great many details referencing our installations, tools, materials and the way engineers work. We would call them “flavours” – details noticed by our employees in the various parts of the world where TechnipFMC operates.
The main task of The Design Group architects was to showcase elements characteristic of TechnipFMC’s activities. It is technical and raw here – the client wanted a space that not only says a great deal about the company itself, but also suits the analytical minds of the engineers working there.
The most prominent element is the recreation of the atmosphere of TechnipFMC’s floating equipment – exposed installations and cabling, industrial lamps, trusses, containers and yellow technical barriers. There is also piping running along the internal façade of the building in the void zone, from the second floor to the fourth. Another interesting solution is the covering of walls with painted trapezoidal metal sheet, and the stretching of cut-and-stretch mesh across the ceilings. The Krakow office space also features genuine salvaged container doors.
The TechnipFMC office in Krakow features several unique solutions created by the architects, such as the so-called void – a free space integrating floors 2, 3 and 4, connected by glazing to floor 1. This allows visitors to look from the first floor up to the other levels of the office, almost as one might observe the world from underwater. The void zone also serves as a symbolic integration of all teams working on each floor. In the previous location this connection was impossible, so the client was very keen that in the new office all employees should have a sense of consolidation.
The first floor of the office – the underwater level – is a collab area designed for collaborative work. It is finished in navy blue, and the sand-coloured carpeting references the seabed. The walls are finished with a special light-diffusing structure. The seating proposed by The Design Group especially for this zone references the shape of the underwater installations produced by TechnipFMC.
The second floor has a representative function. This is where the reception desk and event space dedicated to, among other things, town hall meetings are located.
– The event space consists of four conference rooms equipped with mobile walls that allow any rearrangement of this space, as well as a small warm-up and cool-down zone. This division is useful for both personality types: extroverts and introverts. Depending on their preferences, people can have a small talk over coffee at a time that suits them – such as just before or after a conference or training session – says architect Marta Konarska from The Design Group.
Space in brand shades
– On each floor of the office (except the first) there is a kitchen and a coffee point, each with a different ceiling colour – blue, red and purple. These reference TechnipFMC’s brand colours – says Martyna Bosek, a Design Group architect.
The colours dominating the company’s logo were supplemented with raw concrete resin. This can be found on the floor and walls of the reception and event area. A warming element in the arrangement is the wood-effect laminate applied to office walls. But references to the brand’s distinctive logo are far more numerous. They appear in various interior design details that clearly reflect the unique dynamism of the triangle – for example in angled glazing cuts, the parametric reception desk or the selected furniture.
The successive office floors are characterised by different brand colours of the trapezoidal metal sheet, which forms the structural core of each space. In offices, meeting rooms and work rooms, the ceiling is decorated with cut-and-stretch mesh modules painted black, beneath which installations and mineral wool – also in the same colour – are fixed. The enclosed offices therefore also meet acoustic requirements. Additionally, this solution is interesting aesthetically, as a sense of space is preserved between the mesh and the ceiling above.
An installation of several thousand glass balls
The unique arrangement feature located in the void zone is an installation designed by Dariusz Włodarczyk in collaboration with Plus Lightning – made of small glass balls and representing the so-called Subsea Tree, the company’s flagship product, which is placed on the seabed to control the extraction of raw materials. The installation cuts across the office floors and can be seen clearly from the mezzanine of the individual floors as well as through the glass ceiling/floor between floors 1 and 2.
– We had the pleasure of participating in an extraordinary project, in which we supplied several thousand balls made to order according to an individual pattern from blown glass. For each one we designated its place on nearly 1,000 strings suspended from a pre-prepared structure. Each string was topped with brass balls to provide rigidity and achieve a perfect reproduction of the installation. The whole was illuminated with framing spotlights so that the light brings out the depth of this project – explains Michał Paduch from Plus Lighting.
Also worthy of note are the solutions designed to reduce the negative environmental impact: LED lighting, the installation of water-filtering and water-heating systems in taps, collective waste-sorting containers, high-energy-class household appliances, an increased number of plants, and eco-friendly hygiene products. Due to the floor area (over 6,000 sqm) and the varied spatial needs of TechnipFMC’s employees, the project was very complex and demanding. The end result is an office tailored to the client’s needs.
Design: The Design Group | Location: Krakow | Area: approx. 6,120 sqm | Photos: Fotomohito
