Taking cue from Cargill’s corporate identity and their commitment to sustainability, PAND created a visually engaging office space that brings together nature-inspired interior features and dynamic spaces under one roof.
Cargill, a company renowned for its food, agriculture, financial and industrial products requested for a distinctive design concept that expresses who they are for their new office in Jakarta. They also wanted their new space to represent their core values of sustainability and social responsibility.
To create a sculptural and dynamic workplace environment for Cargill, PAND International Design drew upon a natural habitat concept. At the reception area, the counter is designed to resemble a bird’s nest.
“The bird’s nest is a place where a bird will always return home to rest and feed. Based on this inspiration, our intention is to create a place Cargill can call home in their new Jakarta office,” says Simon Pan, PAND’s Managing Director. “It’s something very different, yet we wanted to put in elements that are warm and familiar.”
The bird’s nest concept is beautifully translated into a sculptural masterpiece for the reception counter. Over 2,000 pieces of wood sourced from Indonesia were used to craft the surface into its rounded nest-like form, resulting in a stunning piece that demands attention instantly.
“The whole process took about a month or so to complete,” Simon says, “We were meticulous with ensuring each piece is stacked precisely on top of each other so that the outcome is perfectly rounded.”
Other references to nature in this space include a living wall of plants behind the reception desk which accommodates Cargill’s logo. There is also an old tree trunk serving as a decorative feature at the waiting lounge. To infuse an Indonesian flavour to the office, textured floor tiles are used.
“Indonesia is a country with abundant natural resources. In this office, we implemented a variety of natural materials into our design. For example, naturally-treated timber and even a large tree trunk,” Simon explains.
Spanning two levels, this office features a “communications staircase” which connects the two floors of its workplace. Right next to the stairway is the pantry/breakout room which serves as a place for employees to chill out, have their lunches or get together for informal discussions. The natural habitat concept continues here with leaf-like ceiling features and bold colours. Loose furniture like outdoor bench seats also contributes to the back-to-nature ambience.
“The pantry area is created as a collaboration space,” Simon says. “We also applied nature-inspired features like the green and dark grey suspended ceiling elements to represent leaves. These are not just decorative – the ‘leaves’ are actually made from acoustic materials. As this area comes with a 2-plane ceiling, sounds tend to bounce all around which can cause the space to be very noisy. Thus, we used these leaf-like acoustic panels and timber strips to help minimize the noise level.”
For the main workspaces, the design team kept the space open and fluid. Workdesk areas are punctuated with breakout corners to encourage more interaction between employees. Glass walls are used in the meeting rooms to provide visual continuity from one space to another. As natural daylight is a challenge in this office, tinted mirror and double-glazed partitions were also employed to create a bright and spacious atmosphere.
“We toned down the colour palette and details in the main office space to align with Cargill’s corporate brand requirements,” Simon shares. “Overall, the layout is functional but dynamic – we configured the space to include different seating elements so that there’s ample room for collaborative work.”
The columns in the office are fairly large which allowed for more discussion zones around them. To further enhance the collaborative environment in the office, a variety of seating furniture is used. For example, in the pantry/breakout room, employees can choose to dine or work at the bar counter or ‘café’ area or carry out brainstorming sessions at the cosy lounge area.
Throughout Cargill Jakarta’s office, PAND has created a series of well-designed, cohesive spaces that culminate into a strong workplace concept. Just recently, this office has won the Asia Pacific Property Awards in the Office Interior category (2017-2018), which puts this project on the map of excellent office designs worldwide.
Project: Cargill
Design Studio: PAND Design
Photo Credit: PAND Design
Website: panddesign.com
