Mimaristudio's Innovative Design Creates a New Work Culture: BASF Türkiye Office

Mimaristudio, known for its focus on next-generation workspaces, biophilic design and human-centered well-being approaches, has designed the new office of global chemical industry leader Basf in Turkey. Its approach, which enables employees at all levels to socialize and interact while experiencing both physical and mental well-being during their time in the office, has been integrated with environmentally friendly and sustainable design criteria, materializing in a dynamic office design dominated by the company's corporate colors. The design of the new Turkey office, realized in collaboration with Basf's Administration and Real Estate Management leadership, spans two floors totaling 5,500 m² across 2,500 m² of net usable space, located in the Nida Tower North building in Batı Ataşehir, Istanbul's developing business and financial center. Known for its contemporary and innovative office projects designed for Turkey's and the world's leading corporate firms, Mimaristudio has transitioned from a multi-story inward-focused physical work structure to an open office system built on horizontal architecture, redesigning the company's work culture and habits to create an entirely new work and living space. In the new office design where reception and main greeting areas are planned on a separate floor, the two floors are connected by Mimaristudio-designed stairs. Beyond its vertical circulation function, the stairs feature podium areas created by Mimaristudio that direct employees toward physical activity and serve as meeting, gathering and socialization points throughout the office. Through corporate color emphasis in these areas, Mimaristudio has created dynamic zones that energize the entire office.

Human-Centered Product Designs…

In the design where all employees, regardless of position or duty, work together at shared work stations, socialization, meeting and conference areas serving different purposes have been created to prevent monotony and repetitive layouts. Among the products selected for different uses in these areas, both between departments and within departments themselves, Mimaristudio designs stand out. Discussion pods (Office Stop) designed by Ayça Akkaya Kul and produced by Nurus, along with axial-working acoustic divider panels, and seating groups (Rom&Jul) designed by the same architect and produced by Connection Turkey, make the office distinctive and extraordinary. For various meeting, discussion and training rooms of different capacities and numbers, architects have opted for ergonomic work chairs paired with electronically height-adjustable desks.

Design Integrated with Corporate Identity…

As in all its projects, in the Basf office, Mimaristudio addresses the entire space design, following completed proper planning processes, as a whole with sub-disciplines including flooring, walls, ceiling, lighting, acoustics, landscape, graphic design and furniture. The firm has designed the entire space as a comprehensive shell where complementary elements work together. The company's innovative, dynamic and colorful identity is emphasized through different forms, shapes and geometric applications of fine structural materials, while the company's corporate colors are used in the space design in a restrained manner. In the new office design, which serves as an important showcase for the company due to its global Basf identity, polyurethane coating material has been applied to the floors of stairs, stair podium areas, meeting rooms planned within the open office, discussion rooms and the shared socialization areas these rooms open into, incorporating fine structural materials from the company's own production. The company's strong product group, the acoustic "basotect" product, has come to life through Mimaristudio design in an aesthetic manner. Large installations designed over the stairwell opening, together with lighting elements, are among the project's attention-grabbing details, while panels on meeting, training and recreation area ceilings, beyond the material's acoustic purpose, are distinctive features of the spaces through their unconventional use.

Design Criteria Shaped by Employee Health and Motivation…

In the project where the entire office is managed by automation systems, lighting design has also been planned by Mimaristudio as part of the overall design, with professional support obtained for technical measurements and calculations. Ceiling panels designed with different geometries and levels using different fine structural materials are highlighted through irregular geometric structure yet homogeneous lighting distribution. Alongside suspended ceiling, linear and point light sources offering general-purpose products, some of all decorative products with LED technology have been selected as acoustic lighting products based on the intended use of the space in which they are located. In open work and living areas, beyond the acoustic criteria that must be planned alongside the design process, design and material selections addressed according to professional consulting services obtained for this specific project have been validated in practice through employee feedback and satisfaction. At the end of all work, the project, reflecting the employer's innovative, environmentally conscious and colorful corporate identity and its human-focused approach to employee happiness and motivation, has received top marks from the employer as a LEED-candidate living space as well as a work environment.