TechnipFMC office, Poland

TechnipFMC is a concern with global reach, providing technological solutions for the energy industry, specialising in innovative solutions of oil and natural gas extraction. It works in both offshore, onshore and above-water projects. The client expected that the appearance of the new office should, on the one hand, refer to the architecture of other headquarters of the concern, and on the other hand, stand out from the rest.

Bearing this in mind, the The Design Group focused on what TechnipFMC did – designing machinery for oil and gas extraction from the seabed. Therefore, they designated four levels: the first floor is the underwater space, the second is the water level, and the third and fourth floors are decks of water crafts used in marine operations. The new office in Podium Park, apart from ergonomic aspects and a new space for employees, contains many details that refer to the conpany’s installations, tools, materials and the way of working. The most prominent feature was recreating the climate of TechnipFMC floating equipment, and the designers uncovered installations and cabling, industrial lamps, trusses, containers and yellow technical barriers. There is also piping running along the internal facade of the building in the void zone, from the second to the fourth floor. Another interesting solution is covering the walls with painted trapezoidal metal sheet, or spreading expanded metal on the ceilings. There is also a real recycled container door.

The first floor of the office, i.e. the underwater level, is designed for collaborative work. It was maintained in navy blue, and the sand-coloured carpeting refers to the seabed. The walls are finished with a special light diffusing structure to give the most of the underwater nature of the world. The shape of the seats resembles the underwater installations. The second floor (water surface) has representative functions. This is where the reception desk and event space dedicated to, among others, town hall meetings are located.

Red, blue and purple, which dominate the company’s logotype, have been supplemented with raw concrete resin. It can be found on the floor and walls in the reception and event area. The element warming the arrangement is a wood-like laminate used on the walls in offices. However, there are many more references to the characteristic TechnipFMC logo. They are present in various details of the interior design of the office, which clearly reflect the unique dynamics of the triangle, e.g. in glazing under an angle or selected furniture.

The next levels of the office are characterised by different brand colours of the trapezoidal metal sheet, which is the core of each space. In the offices, meeting and work rooms, the ceiling is decorated with expanded metal modules painted black, under which installations and mineral wool, also in the same colour, are attached. Therefore, closed offices meet the acoustic requirements. In addition, this solution is aesthetically interesting because there is an impression of space between the mesh and the ceiling. In the Void zone is an installation made of small glass balls, designed by Dariusz Włodarczyk in cooperation with Plus Lighting. It represents the so-called Subsea Tree, the company’s flag product, which is deposited on the seabed, used to control the extraction of the raw material. This installation crosses the office floors and is clearly visible from the mezzanine of each floor and through the glass ceiling/floor between floors 1 and 2. The designers collaborated with Plus Lighting on an extraordinary installation that holds the eye, and consists of several thousand balls of blown glass in an individual pattern held by nearly 1000 pieces of lines suspended from a previously prepared structure. The whole thing is illuminated with framing spotlights that bring out the depth of the piece.