Coatresa Office, Barcelona

The Denys & von Arend studio has recently completed the interior design project for Coatresa’s headquarters, healthy offices inspired by the concept of ‘the third skin’.

Coatresa, a family company founded in 1983, located in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda and led by the second generation, specialises in providing solutions in the industrial sector, through non-stick and anti-corrosion coatings, specialising in the food bakery sector in terms of moulds and coatings.

To approach the design concept, the Denys & von Arend studio team started from the meaning of the anti-adhesion and anti-corrosion coatings manufactured by Coatresa to form the concept of “The third skin”. Thus, the basis was the idea of coating: “to cover one thing completely with another, usually forming a layer, a skin”.

An office with movement has been created by means of a metallic mesh that acts as a visual filter between zones, separating them, but without actually dividing them, thanks to its semi-transparency. It generates a sensation of seeing without being seen. In this luminous space, certain “raw” materials are left uncovered, covering them with a patina of colour that gives them a new focus within the space.

Wall coverings and dividers of different textures are combined, mixing padded finishes with other harder ones and bringing richness and variety to the envelopes. The design of different volumes within the space, working the different heights, generates boxes within the building and dividers that generate new routes within the office. By adding more or less skins, more private spaces and other more permeable spaces are created to respond to the different needs within the office: meeting rooms, informal meeting space, phone booths, etc.

The floor of the new offices becomes a single space where a wide variety of activities take place. Being located in the centre, the office articulates the entire floor and, thanks to its circular shape, creates a space for connection and meeting within the space. It becomes a very pleasant place to take a break.

The sum of the different elements: skins, patterns, dividers, light, variety of textures, makes the office an elegant, timeless space with a relaxed atmosphere that invites productivity, teamwork or individual work indistinctly offering a place where employees interact socially and professionally in a healthy environment.