Will architectural retrofits, i.e. the modernization of existing structures and spaces, help prevent the next demolition of several-year-old office buildings? How to reconcile the desire to achieve a wow effect in a designed interior with maximum reduction of carbon footprint? And finally, what pays off more - renovating or creating from scratch?
When Arup's Warsaw headquarters was hailed as the best office space in the world two years ago, the company's 3Rs principle of reduce, reuse and recycle became a guiding principle for many in creating post-pandemic office spaces. This idea also guided the company's Krakow branch, which decided to modernize its office space in the Pascal building on Przybyszewskiego Street. The interiors in the office building, completed in 2014 and designed by BE DDJM Architekci studio, required a facelift and adjustment to the modern needs and expectations of employees - traditional cabinets shading the space were removed, more greenery was introduced, furniture was renovated and installations were adjusted. Was it enough?
The floors feature marmoleum and yarn carpeting, consisting of 90 percent recycled material
Photo: Piotr Markowski
On whether grand gestures and huge financial outlays are needed in creating friendly office spaces, we talk to Katarzyna Dendura, Design Manager at Arup, responsible for the modernization project of the Krakow office.
Ola Kloc: The Warsaw office has become your showcase - so the bar was set high... Did you draw on solutions that worked in Warsaw, or did you go a step further?
Katarzyna Dendura: I drew a lot from the Warsaw experience. The Warsaw office was designed by an external company - Workplace, the Krakow space we arranged ourselves. The scope of the renovation was also different - in both places we did the so-called retrofit, in Warsaw it was a renovation of the space after a tenant in the same building, so it did not affect the functioning of the office. Here we were renovating the space where we worked, so it was a big logistical challenge.
Ola Kloc: How long did the renovation take?
Katarzyna Dendura: The work took a month. The planning process itself took a long time, but it was the one that allowed for a smooth implementation.
Ola Kloc: The design process of a traditional renovation, without reusing so many elements, would have taken longer or shorter?
Katarzyna Dendura: Shorter. In a normal design process, I would look at the space, draw the arrangement, design the interiors, propose solutions. Here we inventoried everything, it took a lot of time. When creating the conceptual design, I had the inventory in front of me all the time. It's easier to design something new than to think about how existing elements can find a place in a new space.
Ola Kloc: It is time and cost that are most often paid attention to in projects in the spirit of reuse. What were the budget issues in this case - did it come out cheaper or more expensive than a classic retrofit?
Catherine Dendura: Cheaper - by about 20 percent compared to designing with new furniture.
Ola Kloc: It is often said that reusing elements is more expensive than buying new ones. So does this apply mainly to cubic objects?
Katarzyna Dendura: It can be more expensive, of course. I really like both the aesthetics and the idea of countertops made from recycled plastic, from melted bottles. They are beautiful, they have a fantastic design, but their price is a multiple of a regular countertop, because the processing technology is not cheap. So we are often faced with a choice between fitting into a budget and a lower carbon footprint.
Ola Kloc: Here you decided, among other things, to adjust the installation instead of replacing it with a new one - a cost-effective solution.
Catherine Dendura: It's a cost-saving solution both financially and in terms of the carbon footprint , because one of the biggest values of the carbon footprint when doing a fit-out is precisely MEP installations, mechanical ventilation. However, you have to balance it - installations also have their lifespan and at some point adjusting them won't do anything anymore. The office in Warsaw used the existing installation of the former tenant - it was redesigned and adapted to the new space, but also used pipes to create furniture - for example, the legs of the tables were made of pipes from ventilation ducts, they are painted, protected - it looks sensational and introduces an industrial atmosphere.
Here we adjusted the ventilation, of course it is better, but making this decision, we knew that it would not be perfect.
The designers opted for adjusting the installation instead of replacing it with a new one
Photo: Piotr Markowski
Ola Kloc: What else worked? Maybe some solutions will become a hint for companies that want to carry out a renovation in a short time and on a low budget.
Katarzyna Dendura: When a company wants to act quickly, the selection of the contractor is key. We held an internal tender, and of course price mattered, because the contractor's budget is part of our budget, but we really wanted the contractor to understand what we meant - what it's for, what it's about - and believe in it, because if someone doesn't believe in reducing waste, reusing materials, it's harder to work.
We decided on a local company, based very close to our office, so in the process we also reduced our carbon footprint! It was also important for us to work with a carpenter who would take into account that we wanted to reuse some of the furniture, have it on offer and help us with it. This was the case with the flower dividers - my dream was to have wooden bookcases, I wanted to be surrounded by wood, but the cost turned out to be very high. So together we worked out another solution - they were made of aluminum substructure.
Ola Kloc: You managed to find a company that thinks the same way. In your opinion, is this already a common trend?
Katarzyna Dendura: I think it is. The fact that architectural offices think this way is obvious to me, it's our profession and thinking pro-environmentally is written into our ethics, but if large corporate firms are already starting to think this way and realize offices in the spirit of the 3Rs, that means it's already happening.
Ola Kloc: We haveCO2 negative fiber carpeting under our feet - how does it work?
Catherine Dendura: It sounds complicated, but it's very simple. The yarn from which it's woven is made in Poland, so this already affects the carbon footprint, it's a local product. The carpet backing is made from aCO2-negative fiber - its production leaves the smallest carbon footprint thanks to its 90 percent recycled content. The acoustic panels we chose are made of melted plastic, so their carbon footprint is also theoretically zero, except for the moment of transportation.
Ola Kloc: What other innovations have been made?
Katarzyna Dendura: We decided to go with New Style furniture. It is a local factory and a company that thinks cool - for example, the chairs we chose can be disassembled into parts and each of them can be replaced. This is very rare! The furniture we're sitting on is from ten years ago, thanks to the fact that it's good quality, it was enough to wash it.
The company, wanting to reduce its carbon footprint as much as possible, decided to refurbish some of the furniture and buy new recycled ones
photo: Piotr Markowski
Ola Kloc: How do you combine pro-environmental ideas with aesthetics? Was that a big challenge in this project?
Katarzyna Dendura: It was difficult [laughs]. I wanted there to be a wow effect already at the entrance, I was tempted to buy some eye-catching furniture in a fickle shape. It took a long time to create the concept, because when I designed something, every time I asked myself if it was real - how much we needed it, if it would then go with us, or find another place, if it got damaged, what would we do with it. I constantly had to check myself.
Ola Kloc: Do you already have feedback from employees on how they feel about the office?
Catherine Dendura: Yes, they are very satisfied. Especially with the fact that, among other things, we have doubled the number of plants.
Ola Kloc: I read that there are 240 of them!
Katarzyna Dendura: Yes [laughs]! We already had no small number of them before. When I started working here, I was very surprised that people had their plants. We added a second one, so it really got thicker, especially on the dividers.
The interior of the office is filled with more than 200 plants
photo: Piotr Markowski
I presented the conceptual design to the team, so everyone more or less knew what the office would look like, but I don't think they expected such an effect. We achieved a huge change by removing the furniture that separated the communication space from the open space - it became very luminous. Also positive was the change of carpets to less obvious ones - when choosing materials, I did "hook-ups" in the office, putting different samples on the old carpet and watching how people reacted to them. Although initially they weren't fans of what I chose, they later admitted that the bright carpet made the space seem fresher. The flower pots and warm wood-colored lockers made it much cozier, and the plants helped create smaller enclaves - it's still an open space where we can all see each other, but you can also find a smaller space for yourself. I think the neon slogan "Good vibes" literally permeated the atmosphere.
Ola Kloc: Thank you for the interview.
