Where you might expect to see a mezzanine floor built in to make the most of the factory’s impressive ceiling height, this is looser, with new construction modelled to place people in workspaces at various heights. There is something exciting about seeing an industrial space used in this way, with non-uniform, geometric structures perched upon one another, occupying the airy loft-like space. At the same time as feeling part of the whole, each person has their own space in which to realise their individuality.” Voskoboynikov describes it as “a very ergonomic environment that allows us to work as a well-organised team. The outcome is a three-tiered workspace that uses every inch, right up into the rafters. The decision was made to divide and break up the factory floor into separate work areas and functions, not through traditional walls or partitions, but by introducing a series of different levels. We wanted to create dynamic new forms within the static space,” says Voskoboynikov. “The key concept was to integrate independent architectural volumes within the existing wall space. “On the one hand, it is the ideal creative situation, but on the other, the absence of external constraints generates an infinite number of possibilities,” says Voskoboynikov.Īfter consulting, and drawing on the skills of Nefa Research’s designers, architects, lighting designers, engineers and project managers, an idea was formed. It was around this time the firm learnt that occupying the role of both client and designer can be a double-edged sword. With the ideal location secured, Nefa Research’s brief was to quickly and efficiently design and build a workplace that was both comfortable and expressive of the studio’s design ethos. At the same time as accommodating workspaces it hosts events ranging from lectures and films to indie publishing festivals and electronic music concerts.Ĭrucially for Nefa Research, however, the factory offered a column-free space, with 250sqm of floor space and a ceiling height of 9.5 metres, with steel trusses supporting the roof. In close proximity to the city centre, the building offers a base for Moscow’s creative and cultural economy. Among the current tenants are advertising and event agencies, video production studios, and product design, fashion and craft workshops. To begin with, design and media companies moved in, closely followed by designer showrooms and art exhibitions. Inside a carefully transformed industrial estate, the Flacon Design Factory was set up in 2009 as a set of offices and workspaces for the creative industries. The search for a building that was light and open led them to an old factory workshop previously used for the production of glassware, in particular perfume bottles. “We need the air and the space for our ideas to work,” says Nefa Research’s project architect Boris Voskoboynikov. Two key criteria for the space were that it had to have a high ceiling and large windows. Two years ago, the studio, now 16 strong, decided to design its own place of work. ![]() It’s what makes this project in the Flacon Design Factory in the heart of Moscow unusual, especially as the studio involved decided to build vertically, creating a multi-tiered workspace.Īrchitectural studio Nefa Research was set up more than a decade ago and works on projects ranging from offices to houses to airports. It’s not often that a designer can start with a blank slate, and create an interior space, including room structure, lighting, and furniture, on the basis of architects’ sketches.
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