協發工商大廈 Unify Commercial Industrial Building

「早上08:45到達公司打卡，返放下公事包，打開電腦…如往日一樣，慣性地利用餘下的10分鐘到茶水間泡一杯咖啡，精神地開始新一天工作」這樣的行程對於上班族的我們來說一點都不陌生。熟悉地拐過彎走進茶水間，突然~! 腳步停了下來，揉揉雙眼，再用力地睜開，那一刻你懷疑自己是不是沒睡醒而走錯地方，但回頭看工作間裡面都是自己熟悉的面孔，很確定這一切都是真實的！

之前狹小且設計過時的茶水間，在10天內像變魔法一樣，徹底消失之餘，還變身成為眼前像貴賓室一樣舒適的休息空間。茶水間原本的間隔牆被拆除，實際空間擴闊了，視覺上更被倍數放大。擴大後的茶水間可以容納更多設施，增加了一張中島吧台外，遠處角落也有足夠空間放置一套包廂型的沙發，讓同事有更多空間休息、進行聚餐、甚至開會。設計以木元素為主，溫暖和親切感渲染整個空間，加上柔和白燈光打到木質牆壁上再反射出來的餘光，增添了高雅元素，用來會客也是一個很好的選擇。

隔壁的洗手間也換了新面目，從沈悶的普通設計，換成異國情調的俏皮風，利用個性的黑邊幾何形白色磁磚舖砌一半牆身，搭配上活力的幸運主題色–橙色，年輕的設計讓員工每次休息都有充電後的振奮感覺。有些空間雖然不顯眼，但在合適地方恰當地加入主題色，讓辦公室的整體設計相互呼應，就是設計的魔法。當潮流不斷在變，設計保持屬於你的色彩，搭配出超越歲月的個性空間。

翻新五、六十年樓年的單位，難度十分高，加上維持辦公室正常運作的情況下進行，難度更高。舊樓天花剝落、鋼筋外露、滲水等問題，這裡隨處可見。為解決或改善種種結構性問題，我們選擇合適環境的物料，例如選用了耐用的木紋磚；並以防火、防水、耐磨的膠板保護牆身；檯面則選用岩板，宗旨是平衡美觀和耐用性，讓未來的打理工作更容易。單位的天花剝落問題頗嚴重，所以不適合做太多敲打鑽槌工程，我們改用方便將來維修的明侯方式，再粉涮成柔和優雅的米色，和其他傢俱顏色互相呼應。無論身處那個角落都猶如置身貴賓房一樣。透過設計也反映出老闆對員工的關心和照顧。

繼“辦活空間”6天挑戰成功後，這次的番外篇只用了10天！泥水、木工、水電、冷氣師傅同時間進場施展魔法，只利用下班後或假期動工。他們有系統地各守崗位，創造了另一個傳奇!

6 Days Office Renovation Challenge

The office can be treated as the second home for majority of urbanites. Every weekday working 9/6, a comfortable working space is absolutely necessary to employees. The client of this office renovation project is specialized in technology. It operates 24/7 because there is a server system in the company that cannot be stopped. With the request of providing employees with a better working environment and enhancing the company's image without affecting the business operation , the boss came to us for solutions.

The client company hasn’t changed their interior design since it was founded 20 years ago. The boss and staff have made themselves legends in this office by turning a small business into a sizeable successful enterprise in today’s market. It is normal for the boss having a such determination toward his environment in where his legends were made. It is a pity to tear down this memorable place so we chose the "light renovation” approach in order to meet the requirement of minimum impact on daily operations and keeping his meaning intact. We made use of the 5-day holiday in April to carry out the renovation. it took only 6 days from the beginning to the end to complete this interior project.

Wallpaper

To suit the vibrant image of a technology company, our design concept is to build up a modern-urban-vibe in the office and get rid of the dim and old look without changing the main structure. Like a live performance, changing the backdrop is the most effective way to catch people’s eyes and bring in refreshing feelings, so we changed the wallpaper of the office. To avoid boredom, we use layers of colour to highlight different zones. In the front desk and the chairman’s room at the back area, grey tone wallpaper is being used. The main office area in the middle, we use white tone.

Flooring

"Light decoration" emphasises using the least moves to achieve the greatest effect. Vinyl flooring is a very good choice as the flooring material quality and the installation technology nowadays has improved. As long as the floor is flat and the lower layer isn’t damp, you can directly pave the floor by putting the materials on the top surface. It is essential for business interior project to reduce the impact on operations. In this project, we chose a Korean brand of flooring with grey cement pattern to bring out the modern feel.

Lighting

We use the urban theme colour (grey and white) on the wall and floor to highlight modern vibe. Those light colours also help expanding and enlarging the space visually. To strengthen the result, we also adjusted the lighting of the entire office. When the light shoots on the light-coloured wall, soft and moderate light is reflected out that makes the entire space brighter and more comfortable. Minor change but big effect is the magic of “light renovation”.

Highlight

Choosing a spot to have a big change instead of the whole space can achieve a big effect in short period of time. This time, we chose the reception area where the moment of truth takes place when people first come in. To catch people’s eyes, we made a brand new sign. The next step is to change the old and yellowish reception counter in tall and narrow shape, keeping in tune with the modern design. We replaced it into a long and white counter with the appropriate height. Although it is wider than before, the white colour is visually more spacious and appealing. The height of the counter is below eye level, making the horizontal field of view wider.

In terms of decorations, we removed the couch on the left side of the entrance and changed it to a simple elegant designed armchair; making the area more spacious and multifunctional. When there are guests, it is a useful piece of furniture. When there are no guests, it becomes a stylish decoration and makes the place looks more modern. We also hung up some art paintings on the wall. If you pay attention, they all have one thing in common, which is ‘orange’. This is because the office originally had a large piece of orange coloured decoration wall on the right side of the entrance. Not sure it is due to feng shui reasons or just old habits, it has become a lucky colour that has intertwined and become a part of everyones life; motivate everyone in this company. Therefore, we keep his "lucky colour" in small subtle details with the hope that the good meaning can be continue and spread.

There are many ways to level up the interior design of your office in a short period of time. As long as you understand the characteristics and chemical balance between each material, you can quickly improve the quality of the space by simply changing the wallpaper, matching the right colour, and adjusting the lighting.