We have exciting news. Liftoff has made it to the top 8 in the category “Coworking Office of the Year” in the Office of the Year competition. Let us introduce the storiz design team: Blanka Zvolenszky and Kata Imre, two young architects who gave Liftoff this cool design.
LIFTOFF (L): How do you find each other with a client?
storiz (s): A mutual architect friend brought us together. Since all this happened in the middle of a bigger, already ongoing project, we initially thought about who we could recommend instead of ourselves. Then, after a short consideration, we decided to do it ourselves and make time for it as the task seemed so exciting!
Why did you find this place exciting?
s: The first step of a design process is a design library research. This is when it was discovered that Liftoff’s premises were originally a lift factory. It turned out that most of our large public buildings, including the lifts for the Parliament, were once manufactured here. The concept was quite influenced by this. From the moment it was discovered, it became a key component of the design. The former factory on the site of the current office deserves not to be forgotten. We attempted to maintain a sense of continuity between the past and the present by creating an industrial athmosphere. This is why the ceilings are “raw”, the natural steel details and surfaces in several rooms of the office are still visible, and why the electrical installation is routed outside the walls. As a subtle reference we also designed the phone booth – which serves as a quiet retreat area from the coworking space – to look like a lift when you enter it. We wanted to showcase the factory’s history in a way that was relevant to the new office function, because the goal was to maximize the needs of today’s office.
2.L: What unexpected things did you encounter during the work? What are the limits and possibilities when designing an unconventional office?
s: Finding a common ground with the current customer is a general challenge. Everyone is different. To get to know the customer’s needs and ideas, to explore the possibilities the space has to offer, the requirements, specifications, budget and to coordinate all of this.
We had an easy job with Liftoff, because we had to design a creative office for a creative community – which is a rewarding task. We also felt that Mónika (Monika Gyurity – the owner) was open, easily understood the ideas and designs, and was completely constructive in design-related issues during our discussions with her.
Otherwise, planning is typically limited by the budget of the project.
3.L: When you design, what are the aspects that you like and those you don’t like? What or who inspires you the most?
s: We constantly try to find the challenge in a given phase or task. Maybe the already tedious technical part, the drawing of the design plan can become too monotonous at the end of the design process. Although its predictability has some benefits as well…
Inspiration can come from a variety of sources, but perhaps the most refreshing is when you’re stuck on a problem and the solution/inspiration comes to you from nature or the city, while standing up from the computer and moving around. Keeping an eye on what’s going on in the world of design is usually inspiring as well.
Basically, we are looking for answers to current design questions, which can come from many places in interior design including history, fine art, other applied arts, but if we want to be very cliché, inspiration can come from any area of life. All you have to do is be open.
4L: What are the architectural and design innovations these days that can make a building, an interior space, an office exciting and interesting?
s: Any element, idea, or thought that we haven’t seen before, that is unique, fresh, and adds something extra in terms of design – even if only on an emotional level, but better if also on a functional level.
The issue of environmental awareness is also very important today, and if it is applied aesthetically it can add value to a space for us.
5.L: What do you think are the three factors that make a coworking office popular among the guests?
s: Location, services and community.
6.L: Knowing the characteristics of the Loftoff office, whom would you recommend it for primarily?
s: For everyone! During the design process, the target audience was the multimedia, light-painting community that had already formed at the other location, which other motion picture creatives can easily join.
It’s exciting if this group can also be diverse, and the advantage of a coworking office is that you can learn from each other, be inspired or just relax with an interesting presentation, so it’s also good for anyone who works in any other field and is looking for an exciting, diverse new place to work.
7.L: What are your future plans, and what tasks do you have lined up?
s: We currently have several projects running in parallel, these are now residential, office and school interior designs. We want to continue working on exciting projects with agreeable clients. Our current big task for our studio is to launch our website and at the same time find our place in social media – so to finally have a virtual presence.
