Modern HQ Transforms One of Paris’ Classic Buildings

The Ekimetrics headquarters can be found on the beautiful Champs Elysee in Paris, France. The marketing company chose a classic building with a rich history and decided to mold it after their own charm and character. So elements such as the cement floors, the wooden structures and the overall modern office design had to be merged with the original setting without distorting it.

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Estelle Vincent Architecture was in charge of the transformation of the 1000 square meter office space. The firm deals with everything, from the construction to renovations and even furniture design and this holistic approach worked out great in this case.

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The headquarters features two large open spaces. These contain numerous workstations but, because they’re so vast, the architects wanted to break up these rooms and to add a bit of privacy to certain areas. So they cam up with the idea of including a trio of geometric timber structures.

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One of them is called the Eki Cube and it’s a 4x4x4m structure which contains two meeting rooms. Inside the walls of this volume there are hidden features such as a staircase, lockers, a main entrance point and a slide.

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The great attention to details that the architects are proud of led them to give the lockers a really simple design which, at the same time stands out. It’s all in the details and, in this case, it’s the way the little corner triangle openings form an irregular pattern.

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The second timber volume is the Eki Cabin. It is situated in the main meeting hall and it contains an office for two and a main meeting room.

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24 wooden modules which can be reconfigured according to the event, being able to easily change function.

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When not needed, the wooden modules can be stacked and placed in the recess of the geomtric wooden structure.

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The third wooden structure was named Eki Truck. The kitchen is located here, behind the facade of a food truck in real scale. During the day, the remaining space can become an informal meeting space. In a way, you could say that the food truck is just one of the many cool desk accessories this space has.

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This kitchen area is where the décor becomes predominantly modern, infused with a bit of industrial flair offered by the light fixtures.

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These three volumes create a dynamic and laid back vibe which suits the company really well and helps define it as modern and youthful. The biggest challenge was merging these modern and unconventional features with the existing elements and creating a cohesive office space.

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So elements such as ornate chandeliers and ceilings coexist with geometric, minimalist structures and, although the contrasts are strong, the overall result is a well-balanced office space. Some portions are infused with classic charm while others stand out as modern, playful and dynamic, defined by eye-catching patterns, colors and simplicity.

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The timber volumes don’t go all the way up to the ceiling so an opening still remains, allowing light to travel through and allowing the interior to feel more open and airy.