Siggrou Offices

For decades, the open office layout has been the prevailing principle for the organization of office spaces. Transparency and openness were claimed to be the most conducive characteristics contributing to a pleasant working environment. Simultaneously, they represented ideological arguments that disguised an underlying intention to increase spatial efficiency and surveillance, while reducing overall costs for construction and maintenance.

The first questioning of these beliefs appeared during the late 1990s and 2000s, as monotonous workspaces were increasingly not compatible with new demands for more playful working environments. To complement increasing digitalization of processes and alienation of employees, the rising technology industry instigated this change in working cultures by introducing methods of programmatic distraction and spatial disorganization.

Multi-colored workspaces with ping-pong tables and informal seating, soon became symbols of a supposedly more inspiring working environment. These symbols related to a new working style that implicitly made no distinction between working and living at the office. Albeit superficial in nature, these first attempts of informalization signaled towards an eventual paradigm shift in the way work would be organized and perceived entirely.

Project details

Architectural Design: en-route-architecture in collaboration with Kokkinou Kourkoulas Architects+Associates

Construction: CORE S.A.

Project Management: Atria Property Services

E/M design: Pantelis Argyros - Panagiotis Sassaris / Melcon Engineering

Ceiling & Lighting Design: Smeka S.A.

Acoustical design: Timagenis Acoustics Consultants

Quantitative Surveyor and Project Management: Area QS

Photos: Mariana Bisti

Suppliers who participated in the project and were advertised in this issue

Furniture: EL GRECO GALLERY, EKA HELLAS

Air conditioning: AHI CARRIER

Room sealing: SIKA HELLAS

Air duct construction: DELTA DUCT DERMITZAKIS