INFOCZ is a technology company that transforms industry-specific knowledge and corporate data into structures that artificial intelligence can understand. It connects dispersed information—including documents, databases, drawings, and logs—through ontologies and applies these structures to artificial intelligence, search, analysis, and security systems. In response to this technological character, we planned the spatial order of its headquarters by revealing the structures embedded within the existing building and reorganizing the relationships among its disparate elements.
The building consists of a reinforced-concrete structure with low floor-to-ceiling heights, onto which a steel reinforcement system had been added to improve seismic performance. The design began by interpreting these overlapping structures not as constraints to be concealed, but as conditions that record how the building was formed and transformed over time. By juxtaposing the existing reinforced-concrete structure with the newly inserted steel framework and coordinating the relationships between structure and building services, finishes and furniture, we transformed the building’s pre-existing order into an organizing principle for the new workplace.
The second-floor town hall is where this concept is most directly expressed. The reinforced steel columns and their lower connection details are exposed, revealing how the new structural system is joined to the existing building. Lighting is inserted between the reinforced steel beams to compensate for the low ceiling height, while the overlap between the repetitive existing beams and the new steel reinforcement is articulated as a principal spatial order.
A white linear pattern corresponding to the arrangement of the beams is applied to the floor. The lines pass through the columns, intersect, and expand, transcribing the structural grid of the ceiling onto the floor plane. The columns and beams, ceiling and floor are thus interpreted not as separate elements, but as parts of a continuous spatial order.
In the basement lounge, a communal table made of larch accommodates dining and rest, informal meetings, and interaction among employees.