Architect：Destudio Arquitectura

Location：Plaza Castilla, Madrid, Spain; | ;

Project Year：2022

Category：Offices

The certification company EQA chose Destudio Arquitectura for the remodeling of its offices in Plaza Castilla Madrid.

Offices are not only work spaces, we must not forget the commercial focus that many of them have in their DNA. In this particular case EQA is an organization dedicated to certification and verification; and that commercial point is part of its corporate culture.

Therefore, the design of this office remodeling project revolves around making sense and adapting the space to these needs both commercial and purely labor.

With more than 600 m2 of space, EQA's offices in Plaza Castilla (Madrid) stand out for their sober, serious character, but without forgetting the modern touch so necessary in today's workspaces.

The first thing we find is a large reception, designed to receive customers and therefore make sense of the commercial needs of the company. 

This reception welcomes us with a counter designed with a large-format porcelain tile. Another of the characteristic elements of this space are the wooden slats that surround the entire reception area. These slats have an aesthetic but also an acoustic component.

In this same reception we also find a small waiting area accompanied by a vertical garden of preserved moss, which brings a cozy touch to the space.

Leaving behind this reception, we enter a large Open Space. EQA is a company that has a staff of about 80 workers, but this Plaza Castilla office is designed to cover 50 jobs. As a result of the pandemic, more and more companies are betting on teleworking, and EQA is one of them.

This business model is here to stay and forces us to rethink the workspaces, how to design them and orient them for the best performance of the companies.

Just as in housing, new needs are arising, such as the design of workspaces, offices, etc. In offices, the number of employees is being reduced so that 100% of the staff is not always working in person.

This change is reflected in a new design and known as Hot Desk, employees don't have an assigned position. For this reason, in this office renovation project there aren't any drawers, screens, etc. Each worker arrives and sits wherever there is a free seat.

Another of the main protagonists of this Open Space is the Color Block, a central space designed in corporate green and designed to be a totally playful environment. The tables and chairs are designed to be used for short periods of time and not to remain working there permanently. 

It's designed as a block for informal meetings and more relaxed gatherings between colleagues.

In this same Color Block we also find three booths for video calls so necessary in the era of teleworking. 

This project couldn't miss a recreational space with sofas, high tables and a bistro area as a prelude to the dining room of the offices. 

In short, the EQA Madrid offices are designed with the new uses and needs of the post-Covid era in mind. The conventional office concept has disappeared and now more than ever it’s time to innovate, to bet on spaces that transmit closeness and make workers feel at home.

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