London House in Buenos Aires, Argentina by Carbono Atelier

Article source: Carbono Atelier 

Within the framework of a group of clients constituted by “London Travel” and “Viral Productions” is the “London House experience”: The new headquarters of this travel agency in which we proposed to change the traditional paradigm of service business, where experience exceeds the relationship of purchase and sale. The product, travel, as a means to an end, and the end as a personal experience of the client; now become user and protagonist of the process.

London House is the result of the need that the company had to adjust to the constant changes of the corresponding market. We decided to design a project that could be transformed and accompany the programmatic needs that arose during the operation of the travel agency of our clients, and that neither the materials nor the furniture were conditioning at the time of providing this process.

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

• Architects: Carbono Atelier
• Project: London House
• Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Carbono Atelier

The challenge was to design a space that would accompany the personal experiences of the users, in addition to complying with the requirements of the programmatic system and functioning of the agency. The “London House experience” integrates two worlds: (1.) the action of traveling (and the preparation that this requires) and (2.) participation in networks (as a driver of new experiences).

Our goal was to project a space that would be the experience in itself, where the spatial identity of the brand will surpass the limits of graphic identity. Materialize the “London House experience” by modifying: the traditional spatial structure of sale of the other branches of the travel agency; the rigidity and statism of the materials and furniture in relation to the use of space and users.

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

London House

Operation Of The Spaces And The Program

Headquarters

London House had  to offer a  customer service area, open to the public for saling trips and tourist packages. But it also had to be able to transform itself into a space suitable for events without dissolving the spatial identity of the London Travel brand.

A space in which we do not use walls to divide spaces, but generate visual sieves so that customers can recognize the entire store; but that when entering each of them (as they go through the purchase process) it is modified by the incidence of light, reflections and movement; providing a completely new experience at every moment of the process. We generate intimacy gradients, according to the programmatic needs required by the company.

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Customer Service – The London Table

Our goal was to make the buyer of a trip in London Travel feel ownership of their own adventure and we seek to concretize that experience by modifying the relationship governed by the relationship “chair-desk-chair”.

For the customer service area, we designed the institutional furniture: modular tables that allow both the work of employees of the company, and spaces for support and interaction for customers. The furniture accompanies the constant movement of users and allows visitors to know offers and proposals, without the need to sit down to establish dates and destinations. In this table there are no fixed work spaces, and it is possible to use it standing / passing / observing, or sitting in armchairs. The maximum comfort of use, even with the static / dynamic double use, was key when designing the furniture.

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Kaleidoscope Materials

The system

We proposed that the central house would be the reference for the future company franchises. This is why we decided to use materials of industrial origin, that could be easily obtained in our country and that could be standardized, produced in the workshop and installed in the franchises; reducing, in this way, work times and possible production errors. All the coverings and furnishings were designed to optimize the selected materials and ensure the quality of production and installation, even in the repetition.

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

The properties

A kaleidoscope of material that generates an easily transformable space (with projections and changes in lighting) according to the objective of each event that will take place in the store.

We worked with mirrors, zinc, polycarbonates, aluminum, satin paints and veneers. To balance these materials, for the floor and  coatings, we use natural cork oak. We are interested in finding the balance between the properties of the materials we use in each project; work by contrasts to exponentiate the virtues of each material (the bright becomes brighter if compared to something opaque, etc).

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Transformation

 London House proposes an experience that exceeds the format of a traditional travel agency. The information is not displayed statically in banners or brochures; but the materials of the store have reflective properties and are possible surfaces on which to project images and videos. The travel offers are as varied as the interests of the customers who enter the agency.

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Screens and Coatings

We generated reflective properties surfaces that could be projected with videos or the necessary information according to the event of the moment. Elements that allow an immediate transformation of the space and of the services offered by the company as well.

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Image Courtesy © Carbono Atelier

Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires

Categories: Headquarters, Office space, Offices

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