Matrix Beyond Bronze Ukarabati wa Jengo la Ofisi by Shujian You

Matrix Beyond Bronze Ukarabati wa Jengo la Ofisi by Shujian You is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Tuzo ya Chuma ya A' Design Award in Usanifu wa Majengo, Ujenzi na Miundo Competition Category.

ChumaUsanifu wa Majengo· 2025

Matrix Beyond Bronze Ukarabati wa Jengo la Ofisi

by Shujian You

Client: Sj

Tuzo ya Chuma ya A' Design Award Winner in Usanifu wa Majengo Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Matrix Beyond Bronze Ukarabati wa Jengo la Ofisi

Mradi huu unabadilisha Jengo la Seagram la Kisasa kuwa mahali pa kazi pa kesho, ukiweka kipaumbele ustawi wa binadamu na uwajibikazi wa mazingira huku ukihifadhi uso wake maarufu wa shaba. Muundo mpya wa ngozi mbili unaimarisha utendaji wa nishati, ndani yake miundo iliyoongezwa inafafanua maeneo yanayobadilika, yakitumika kama vipande na hifadhi vinavyobadilisha mpangilio wa mpango wazi. Kushughulikia mahitaji ya mahali pa kazi baada ya janga, uingiliaji huu unafufua Jengo la Seagram, ukiurejesha umuhimu wake kupitia mfumo mpya wa ndani.

The Recognition

About the Tuzo ya Chuma ya A' Design Award

Matrix Beyond Bronze Ukarabati wa Jengo la Ofisi ni mshindi wa Tuzo ya Chuma ya A' Design Award, utambuzi wenye heshima unaotolewa kwa miundo mizuri inayokidhi mahitaji ya kitaalamu na ya kiviwanda yanayotarajiwa kutoka kwa kazi zilizobuniwa vizuri. Washindi wa Chuma huonyesha ustadi mkubwa, utaalamu wa hali ya juu, uelewa wa kitaalamu na uwezo wa kibunifu wa waumbaji wao. Matrix Beyond Bronze Ukarabati wa Jengo la Ofisi inatarajiwa kuwa kazi inayothaminiwa sana, kupendwa na kuenziwa, ambayo ni ya vitendo na bunifu. Muundo huu ulioshinda Tuzo ya Chuma ya A' Design Award unajumuisha mbinu bora za tasnia na una sifa za kiufundi zenye uwezo zilizounganishwa na ujuzi na kipaji. Matrix Beyond Bronze Ukarabati wa Jengo la Ofisi inaheshimiwa kwa uangalifu wake na imebuniwa kutoa maboresho ya ubora wa maisha yanayosaidia kuufanya ulimwengu kuwa mahali bora zaidi.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: This project reimagines the Seagram Building by superimposing a 45-degree grid onto its modernist framework, creating a double-skin facade that enhances energy efficiency while preserving its heritage, with triangular wellness spaces in between. Added structures transform the office space into adaptable zones, serving as storage, partitions, and stairs that redefine the open-plan layout. The design prioritizes well-being, sustainability, and a forward-thinking workplace vision.
Dimensions & Packaging: The Seagram Building’s vertical structure and facade remain intact, while every other concrete floor and beams are replaced with a CLT system, integrating with the existing frame, ensuring vertical and lateral stability. The void between CLT and the original structure conceals a retrofitted mechanical system, optimizing energy efficiency and space utilization. This approach enhances functionality, sustainability, and allows the upgrades to happen without altering the building’s historic exterior.
Tags: Building Renovation, Workplace, Co-working Space, Modular Design, Sustainable Design
Production Technology: The facade retrofit employs a modular CLT and double-glazed curtain wall system, ensuring precision, reduced waste, and efficient on-site assembly. Sustainably sourced timber provides structural integrity and warmth, while high-performance glazing enhances insulation. The directional facade strategy and Integrated blinds offer additional shading, reducing energy demand. The modular approach allows seamless integration with the existing structure, preserving heritage while upgrading thermal and spatial efficiency.
Design Challenge: The greatest challenge was balancing modern sustainability with the Seagram Building’s historic integrity. The rigid modernist grid conflicted with the need for a workplace suggested by latest researches that value boundaries as a tool for productivity and well-being. The solution emerged by superimposing a 45-degree grid, introducing modular storage partition units and an inner facade system. This approach preserved the original aesthetic while enhancing building energy performance and redefining spatial boundaries as a positive element that enhances workplace quality.
Research: This research explores building energy efficiency, workplace design through post-pandemic shifts, and spatial psychology. It aims to provide a scalable strategy to transform heritage office buildings with improved sustainability and workers' well-being. Using case studies, simulations, and expert interviews, data was collected on improved building energy performance with added inner facade system, and altered office behavior with partitions. Testing modular partition of different plans and openness revealed how structured boundaries enhance focus and productivity, providing a direction for future workplace design.
Inspiration: The Seagram Building, a modernist icon, embodies minimalist elegance but reflects a time when energy efficiency was secondary. It highlights the challenge of adapting heritage buildings to modern performance standards and evolving workplace needs, especially post-pandemic. Open-plan offices, once symbols of collaboration, now face criticism for lacking personal boundaries. How can we honor modernist architecture while meeting today’s demand for sustainable, human-centered office spaces?
Project Duration: Future project in New York City
Operation Flow: Added structures serve as staggered partitions and storage walls, balancing fluid movement and the creation of spatial boundaries while redefining the open-plan layout. They form diverse work zones, integrating reception, meeting spaces, a library, a refreshment lounge, and staircases to foster interaction. Integrated AR/MR systems amplify collaboration, enabling seamless interaction between physical and remote virtual spaces.