VdK Cooperative Offices – Stuttgart
Studio Alexander Fehre redesigned the VdK building cooperative office in Stuttgart, focusing on modern functionality, spatial efficiency, and highlighting original features through a blend of raw and high-quality materials.
The VdK building cooperative builds and manages affordable housing in Stuttgart and the surrounding area. In recent years, the small office has been located on the ground floor of a residential apartment block from 1954, which was converted into office spaces in the 1990s. Due to the existing layout, the spatial structure and flow were inefficient and proved to no longer be sustainable. The client had a simple wish: to make the interior beautiful, not necessarily classical, but rather functional and modern. “Our office should mark a new beginning,“ was the ten-person team‘s motto. Studio Alexander Fehre gladly accepted the challenge and developed a concept that is not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing.
Despite a great deal of freedom in the construction contract, Studio Alexander Fehre’s overall approach was to gently modernize – with exception of the building structure, which was completely gutted after initial considerations. Here, the statics proved to be the biggest challenge of the project. Analysing the exposed spatial structure led to adding a drastic gesture: a sweeping corridor running through the winding floor plan, connecting key daily work functions and giving the office an overall more spacious feel. To achieve this, the two former ground-floor apartments were substantially gutted, revealing a 280 m² floor plan with a lot of unexpected potential.
The characteristic features of the original building were preserved and integrated into the new design. The entrance door is now set in pigmented precast concrete elements that protrude onto the pavement and form an inviting gesture with their curves. Whilst placed at an angle to the façade, the elements are orientated at 90° to the new central corridor indoors, and create a visible link between inside and outside. Upon entering, an open reception combines both waiting areas for customers and workspaces for employees. Although the architects have not designed an open-plan office environment, they have created shared offices in which, in addition to designated workspaces, there are offices that can be used by everyone, including an eye-catching blue seating alcove, illuminated by a 3D-printed light custom-designed by Studio Alexander Fehre.
Special attention was paid to the material concept, which offers a blend of deliberately raw construction and flawless materiality. Low-cost materials such as stained ridge plaster were cleverly applied to create high quality surfaces, with a few bold colours to add accents. Peachy pink in the painted ceiling air conditioners and ellipses on the floor, and azure blue throughout the furniture, fabrics and wall coverings of an intimate built-in alcove, making it the perfect spot to with-draw and rest.
Finally, numerous custom-made products, including tables, painted floor and ceiling sections and specially designed LED lights complete the project. The successfully redesigned office of the VdK building cooperative is not only aesthetically pleasing, functional and contemporary – it also demonstrates Studio Alexander Fehre‘s expertise in the field of interior design and the ability to thoughtfully fulfill their clients‘ wishes and use innovative design to achieve big things even in small spaces.
Design: Studio Alexander Fehre
Photography: Philip Kottlorz
