Platinum Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2020
Sberbank Headquarters Atrium
- A' Design Award 2020 Platinum Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: Sberbank of Russia
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 1,109,495
- Verification code F785507AA5 · Verify this award
About Sberbank Headquarters Atrium
Swiss architecture office Evolution Design in partnership with Russian architecture studio T+T architects has designed a spacious multifunctional atrium at the new corporate headquarters of Sberbank in Moscow. The daylight flooded atrium houses diverse coworking spaces and a coffee bar, with the suspended diamond shaped meeting room being the focal point of the internal courtyard. The mirror reflections, glazed internal façade and the use of plants add the sense of spaciousness and continuity.
This extraordinary interior environment, recognized with the Platinum distinction in the A' Design Award program, represents a significant achievement in contemporary workplace design that masterfully negotiates the dialogue between technological advancement and biophilic necessity. The design team at Evolution Design appears to have approached the commission with an understanding that the modern corporate headquarters must function simultaneously as operational infrastructure, social condenser, and symbolic statement of organizational values. The towering atrium void, rising through multiple office floors, establishes a spatial generosity that transforms utilitarian circulation into experiential journey, while the extensive living wall systems introduce a vertical landscape that softens the precision of the steel and glass architecture with organic texture and chromatic vitality. The suspended sculptural installation, composed of mirror-faceted geometric forms, suggests an engagement with mathematical beauty and infinite reflection that may reference both computational aesthetics and natural crystalline structures. The material palette demonstrates sophisticated restraint, balancing warm oak flooring that grounds human activity with the cooler metallic tones of the structural framework, creating thermal and chromatic dialogue that energizes without overwhelming. Particular accomplishment is evident in the lighting design, where zenithal daylight floods the space through the glazed roof while carefully positioned artificial sources create intimate zones within the monumental volume. The furniture arrangements reveal thoughtful consideration of varied work modes, from focused individual tasks to casual collaborative encounters, suggesting an environment that supports the full spectrum of contemporary knowledge work. One might observe how the design achieves that rare synthesis where architectural ambition serves rather than supersedes human comfort, creating a workplace that inspires without intimidating. How might such environments reshape our expectations of where and how meaningful work occurs?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The daylight flooded atrium acts as a centrepiece complete with a suspended diamond-shaped meeting room, 20-meter-high living walls and a series of cantilevered meeting areas. With the offices on each side, the green walls and the mirrored reflections of the floating room, the whole space has a really futuristic feel.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The atrium is 24 meters high, measured from the coworking space on the 4th floor. The suspended meeting room is 5 meters high, 11 meters long and 8,5 meters wide.
- Tags
- Sberbank, atrium, diamond, Evolution Design, Moscow, T+T architects
- Production Technology
- The construction of the suspended diamond meeting room consists of a floor with a hidden load bearing steel frame and a thin triangulated structure, clad with translucent and mirror panels, all different in shape and size. The suspension cables have been designed flexible and are equipped with tension measurement system to allow for real-time monitoring of the tension forces and immediate adjustments, compared against the calculated lengths.
- Design Challenge
- The main challenge was the complete reconstruction of a previously erected concrete structure with the introduction of new public functions, like the conference centre and the atrium, and the design of a modern and flexible office space that meets the requirements of adjustable workspaces and a diversity of work and recreation areas. Biophilic considerations, smart lighting, ventilation and acoustic solutions were all part of the design scheme.
- Project Duration
- The project lasted 16 months. It was complete in January 2020 in Moscow, Russia.
- Operation Flow
- The spatial flow of the atrium works in several ways. With its various workspaces and the coffee bar in the centre, the atrium draws people to use the space for informal meetings and spontaneous exchange. The 6 protruding meeting rooms act as a visual extension into the atrium, and elongate the views from the atrium into the office spaces. On the office floors, the natural daylight from the atrium enabled placing the workspaces along the inner façade, reducing reliance on artificial blue light.
- Research
- Sberbank is the leading proponent of agile working principles in Russia. The development of the new head office required comprehensive architectural scheme that converts an existing 10-storey structure into an agile workplace with a series of new functions: highly flexible workplaces, recreation areas, conference center and a large canteen. The internal glazed atrium served as the central organizing element of the new scheme.
- Inspiration
- Sberbank is currently developing a new corporate district in Moscow. The bank commissioned Evolution Design to completely reconstruct a 30.000 square meter building into a multifunctional head office. The reconstruction scheme was inspired by the internal atrium, passing through 9 floors of the 10-storey building. The daylight flooded atrium with coworking spaces and a coffee bar is the heart of the new head office and acts as a magnet in connecting people from different departments.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Sergey Melnikoff, 2020. Image #2: Photographer Sergey Melnikoff, 2020. Image #3: Photographer Sergey Melnikoff, 2020. Image #4: Photographer Sergey Melnikoff, 2020. Image #5: Photographer Sergey Melnikoff, 2020
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Evolution Design, 2020