We've written a lot lately about offices and their interiors, created with the comfort of employees in mind. The new LPP space is tailored to the needs of all those who work, but also the duties they perform. Workstations for 400 people have been created on 9 thousand square meters. There was also room for recreational space and... clothes.
The headquarters of the Cracow branch of LPP, which houses the design offices of the House and Mohito brands, is already ready to welcome employees. The new space has been adapted to the needs of the fashion company's creative team. Sustainable solutions used in the building will benefit the working comfort of the 400-person staff and the energy efficiency of the entire 9,000-square-meter facility. The new headquarters was put into operation on April 20. The expansion project for the Cracow branch of LPP, located on Bagrowa Street, began in March 2016.
We needed a more flexible space adapted to the needs of our Krakow teams. We knew that our existing office infrastructure, due to the existing solutions there, did not offer the possibility of introducing any additional facilities, so we decided to start concept and design work on the new headquarters. In the end, we achieved a result that meets the sublime needs of the teams of the two fashion brands Mohito and House. In almost two years, a modern building designed for almost 400 people was created. Due to the current situation, today not everyone can enjoy its amenities yet, as the majority of people work remotely, but technically we are ready to welcome all employees, " says Lukasz Piwoński, director of administrative and technical affairs at LPP.
The office building, with a total area of 9,000 sqm, is a three-story building, which, despite the current situation and the company's suspension of most investments, including the expansion of its headquarters in Gdansk, was completed due to the advanced stage of construction. A local company, Re-BauSp. Z o.o., was responsible for the construction and installationwork, and managed to complete the first stage of the investment just one year after the start of operations.
© LPP
Theinternal design and functionality of the space was the responsibility of the clothing company's long-time partner, the Tri-City studio Studio 1:1, which was also in charge of designing the headquarters of LPP "Fashion Lab" in Gdansk. The originator of the modern look of the facade is Tomasz Zawisza, a Krakow-based architect with experience in designing and implementing "green" properties.
Comfortable and energy-efficient
The company was keen to create a headquarters that would be both comfortable for employees and energy efficient. To this end, it opted for a BMS (Building Management System), which manages the building's automation. It is primarily responsible for reducing the energy intensity of the solutions used, while maintaining the thermal comfort of the interiors. For this purpose, among other things, an air recuperation system was used, through which heat in the building is recovered from the exhaust air, reducing the need for energy, provides filtration of the rooms from pollution and dust, leaving fresh air in them. In addition, air handling units are equipped with the highest quality filters, trapping PM2.5 and PM10 particles, as well as chambers with UV lamps to eliminate microorganisms. The windows use low-emissivity glass - popular in green building, and the floors are lined with anti-allergenic carpet. All this, combined with maximum use of daylight potential and living vegetation, was realized with the comfort of employees in mind.
In the work of creative teams, proper space arrangement is very important. To this end, the rooms use, among other things, bright colors, which provide a great background for the designed collections. Thanks to workshop areas, where design stations have been combined with showroom arrangements, each team has a chance to test their ideas in conditions most similar to those in which customers later make purchases. Meanwhile, in place of the existing warehouse building, there are also plans to build a pilot store, which will be an additional space for testing design concepts.
Well-being of employees
© LPP
Meeting areas have also been taken care of. On the first floor there are conference rooms and open spaces with hockers. As in LPP's Gdansk headquarters, the Krakow headquarters is also equipped with telephone booths with increased sound absorption, which allows for comfortable conversations. The whole is complemented by an almost 300-square-meter dining room, with a full catering offer and a separate cafeteria area.
In the interest of employee well-being, their many sports passions have also been taken into account. To this end, the facility's outdoor space is complemented not only by benches for socializing, but also a mini gym or basketball court, which was built near the pre-existing beach volleyball court. A charging station for electric cars is also coming soon. Meanwhile, once everyone has returned to stationary, a competition among employees to name the new building is also planned. A similar move was made in the case of the company's Gdansk headquarters, where employees jointly decided to name the headquarters on Łąkowa Street "Fashion Lab."
