Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2021
Press Glass Headquarters
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Konior Studio
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 23,028
- Verification code EB38524A4A · Verify this award
About Press Glass Headquarters
Press Glass is an office headquarters building set on a green plateau in Konopiska, Poland. The ground floor plan is an equilateral triangle with a span of 80 metres and encloses an inner courtyard. Offices are placed along the outer facade, while relaxation and open space zones surround the courtyard, so each workplace receives daylight and views of the landscape. Concrete, steel and glass form the structure, and prestressed concrete allows wide spans. Fan-shaped terraces and natural colours blend the building into the surrounding land.
Tomasz Konior's Press Glass Headquarters stands as a compelling exemplar of contemporary corporate architecture that achieves a rare synthesis between bold formal innovation and sensitive contextual response. The structure participates in an ongoing architectural discourse concerning the expressive potential of the glass curtain wall, here elevated beyond mere functional envelope to become the building's primary aesthetic statement and conceptual foundation. The sinuously curved plan generates a dynamic dialogue with its pastoral setting, the building's organic geometry appearing to have emerged from or been shaped by the surrounding landscape rather than imposed upon it. The architect demonstrates sophisticated command of horizontal proportioning, employing continuous ribbon balconies and floor-to-ceiling glazing to create an impression of flowing movement and visual lightness despite the building's considerable scale. The material palette reveals careful consideration, with reflective glass chosen not merely for transparency but for its capacity to dematerialize the structure through environmental reflection, effectively dissolving boundaries between interior and exterior, built form and natural context. The pilotis colonnade elevates the primary volumes, a gesture recalling modernist precedents while serving contemporary functions of covered arrival and ground-level landscape continuity. Particularly noteworthy is the building's relationship to temporal conditions, its reflective surfaces transforming throughout the day as sky and light conditions change, ensuring the architecture never presents identically twice. The integration of water elements and naturalistic planting demonstrates commitment to biophilic design principles, acknowledging human psychological need for natural connection even within commercial environments. This work invites contemplation of how corporate architecture might serve not only functional requirements but also aspirations toward beauty, environmental harmony, and the elevation of daily working experience through thoughtful design.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The headquarters of the companies are usually established in city centers or at important communication junctions. However, the goal was to design a modern headquarters on a green plateau. A narrow plot cut by a stream, with a valuable tree and a view of the golf course was an inspiration to create a shape on a triangular plan. The storeys differ in size, adding dynamics and ease to the entire structure. Soft, horizontal lines and natural colors have integrated it with the landscape.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The outline of the ground floor is an equilateral triangle with a span of 80 m.
The inner, triangular courtyard has a side length of 26 m.
Usable floor area: 5398 m2
Total area: 9982.8 m2
Area of the plot: 29189 m2
Building area: 2943 m2
Investor: Press Glass SA - Tags
- Architecture, office building, headquarters, nature, landscape, human, workspace, wood, glass, metal, concrete, design, interior design, triangle, green roof, Poland, sustainable development, eko, green building, koniorstudio, pressglass
- Production Technology
- Concrete, steel and glass materialize the vision in space. Concrete as the main construction material in the prestressed concrete technology allowed to obtain above-standard spans. The edges of the terraces and balustrades are made of individually designed metal modules. However, the most important element is glass. Enormous, flat and rounded panes of the highest technical parameters, perversely mark the boundary of the interior, opening it to the surroundings.
- Design Challenge
- A cooperation between the architect and the investor was conscious from the very beginning. The number three turned out to be crucial here as we strove to meet the needs of employees in the context of body, mind and spirit. Starting with the use of pro-ecological technologies and ending with numerous analyzes of work comfort, ergonomics and the proportions of rooms. As a result, an environmentally friendly building with a high quality of work and relax space has been achieved.
- Project Duration
- The project started in 2017, construction started in 2019 and finished in October 2020 in Konopiska, Poland.
- Operation Flow
- The design has a clear principle to locate offices along the external facade, while the relax and open space zones would be placed around the inner courtyard. Thanks to this, each place for quiet individual work takes full advantage of the natural surroundings and light. The central part of the building with the natural garden in the patio becomes a public square that integrates all employees.
- Research
- The main idea is based on a figure three. The facility consists of three spaces: the landscape, the building and the courtyard. The triangular shape reduces the scale of the building and the fan-shaped terraces blends it into the landscape. The division into three storeys corresponds to their functions. The ground floor is the public zone, the first floor is the operational and the second floor is the management. The entire structure is logically connected by three communication cores.
- Inspiration
- The natural landscape and the view to the horizon are rarely associated with office buildings. Due to investor's decision, the former wastelands on the edge of the Krakow-Czestochowa Upland have been transformed into a golf course. Now this unlimited space has been enriched with next stage - Press Glass Headquarters. The investor's ambition was to create a headquarters that would express the dynamic nature of the company and at the same time to provide employees contact with nature.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Nate Cook, Press Glass, 2020
Image #2: Photographer Nate Cook, Press Glass, 2020
Image #3: Photographer Nate Cook, Press Glass, 2020
Image #4: Photographer Nate Cook, Press Glass, 2020
Image #5: Photographer Nate Cook, Press Glass, 2020 - Patents
- Konior Studio