Green campus created to attract talented workforce
UNStudio has designed a new building for the St. Petersburg office of the international software development company JetBrains, transforming their current premises into a modern immersive campus environment. With nine offices already located in Europe, the U.S. and Russia, the building is intended to help the St. Petersburg site attract unique talent by expressing its distinct identity to its workforce. UNStudio responded to the brief with a design that offers a flexible and efficient workspace, while also creating a campus that appeals to the community and surrounding city.
Central to the design is the vertically stepped indoor atrium, which connects to an outdoor courtyard and terraces that provide views over the Gulf of Finland. For this area, a highly transparent stable zigzag glazed facade was chosen, at times spanning five floors. As a contrast, the offices are designed to create space for teams and individuals, rather than establishing a completely open-plan environment.
Acting as a vestibule, the imposing lobby creates the first views towards the atrium, while providing cloakroom facilities, showers and exercise spaces. The courtyard on the podium level provides an intimate outdoor overflow space that is embraced by an active gallery connected to the existing office buildings. In UNStudio’s proposal, the galleries are used as an orangery/winter garden for outdoor plants, which can then be placed outdoors in the summer months.
Ben van Berkel, UNStudio founder and principal architect, stated: “JetBrains is a highly innovative company. They are ambitious, possess a deep understanding of their workforce and have a very contemporary approach to the future of work. This meant that we were able to bring everything that we have learned from designing contemporary work spaces to this design and could create a warm, green, transparent, open and inviting office that stimulates total interaction.”
Lucy Nordberg
TenderStream Head of Research
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