DSGV Offices – Berlin
The full communications team of German bank DSGV unites under one roof in the unveil of their new offices, a space that balances the coolness of Berlin with the freshness of the Alps.
KINZO was tasked with giving the headquarters of DSGV a fresh look to integrate with the city of Berlin, Germany.
The communication experts of the German Sparkassen- und Giroverbands and the Sparkassen-Finanzportal are now working as a team – from an extraordinary newsroom in Berlin-Mitte. Conceived by the architecture firm KINZO, it combines Berlin “cool” with the clarity and freshness of the Alps. Behind the design, is a sophisticated architectural organization that enables completely new ways of working.
Julie Andrews singing on a sunny alpine meadow with arms happily spread wide – and Berlin-Mitte cool? That sounds like a cultural collision. In fact, the opening sequence of the cult film “The Sound of Music“ sparked the creative impulse for one of the most unusual office interiors in Germany: the newsroom of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association and the Sparkassen finance portal. For the first time, 80 employees work in a 2,200 m2 office landscape as an integrated team for all communication operations of the savings banks. The brightness, color and material aesthetics of the newsroom exude joie de vivre, clarity and freshness, and the sophisticated organization enables new, agile forms of work.
The Berlin architecture firm KINZO has already conceived, designed and implemented working environments for the company headquarters of Adidas, Zalando and, most recently, a Korean cosmetics group in Seoul. The architects were involved at an early stage in the change management process of the two communication departments of the savings banks, which are now to work together for the first time as an integrated, agile team. In workshops and employee surveys, functional requirements as well as the individual personality of the teams were examined.
On this basis, KINZO developed an abstract, reduced design language with a characteristic color concept: The colors of meadows, forests and wheat fields, mountains and lakes are intended to create an informal, fresh feeling of “arriving and breathing deeply”. Not an easy task given the low ceiling height of the building that used to house a gym. The suspended, transverse aluminum slats not only make the rooms appear larger and higher, but also have a cooling function. The furniture and fittings especially developed for the newsroom, but also the desk series designed by KINZO (Unit by Planmöbel by KINZO) contain sound-absorbing elements that create pleasant, quiet and secure room acoustics instead of the usual but uninteresting grid ceilings. The “Morning Briefing” room, whose multifunctional seating furniture facilitates meetings of the entire team, but also workshops and small, informal meetings, was custom-built as well.
Design: KINZO
Photography: Schnepp Renou
