The Company Comm2

Comm2 is a Danish based IT company focusing on a high level of service and supply of complete solutions and quality. As other companies with a high dependency on knowledge Comm2 is dependable of their employee’s willingness and desire to provide a dedicated performance every day. The employee’s impression of the company´s concern of long term investment in well-being and job satisfaction has been keywords from early stages in the project. Comm2 has seen the development of their new headquarter as an opportunity to tailor the perfect frame for developing the company and its individual culture.

The Building

The building is representing the company to the public and exposes the virtues of the company being; high quality, effectiveness, innovation, and caring for details.

The house was originally designed for industrial use which lends it a number of usable qualities as structural concrete beams and heavy masonry pillars that have been incorporated in the new design for the building.

Big white surfaces cut vertically by glazing from ground to roof creates a homogeneous and simplistic backdrop for refined details in steel, glass and high gloss surfaces. In this way the company´s philosophy is incorporated into the physical being of the building.

A suspended bridge makes the arrival to the headquarter a special experience and divides the inner calmness of the house from the surrounding industrial area. The straight and precise lines, the big white faces and heavy pillars provide a steady frame for a dynamic and even hectic working environment.

Interior layout and design

Communication and a high level of energy are vital for the company´s daily function and the building’s interior and spatial layout supports this. The house is composed of four displaced levels all interconnected by a central atrium rising 12 m. from basement to roof. Heavy cores in black concrete are juxtaposed by shiny white floors and acts as the pivotal point in the building.

Visually the house is one unity composed by the interlacing of heavy and light elements. Floating planes is jointed together across the atrium, vertically as well as horizontally.

The arrival level containing reception and meeting rooms is defined by the soft light from the atrium´s skylight. The glossy white floor stands out with sharp precise edges and reflects the heavy elements of the structure with a poetic lightness

All employees have their work space in the big sales room that provides space for approximately 40 employees. The vast space is furnished with desks and a lounge area for informal meetings and relaxation. The existing building´s ceiling construction is kept and emphasized by the skylight´s soft light filtering through the solid beams. The floor is made of massive planks in Douglas Pine and does itself contain the meeting between the rough and the refined.

The top level gives room for the employee restaurant and is furnished with long tables and AV equipment. The space acts as meeting facility and hosts a number of larger events.  One of the big concrete cores gives access to the big roof terrace that has a 360 dg. View of the surrounding area.

Lighting

In this part of Europe where the time of year dark periods takes up almost half of the calendar, a rich and well thought lighting project plays an important part of the all over architectonic experience. The conscious use of daylight and artificial lighting exposes the few but strong features of the building. In this way the building offers many different moods, depending on the weather and time of year.

The North elevation’s many repetitive pillars stands out as vertical columns of light covering the height of two floors, visually connecting these and giving a well defined but soft light to the reception and employees restaurant.

The huge skylight covering the atrium gives a very strong experience of the day passing and gives cause to dramatically changing experiences due to shifting weather conditions. On sunny days hard and precisely drawn shadows play at the dark surfaces of the cores and in overcast more diffuse soft light emphasizes the contact to the sky.

Powerful built-in halogens in the basement floor light up the cores turning the light intake upside down in the dark hours.

Technical

The vertical cores functions as supply route for IT-cabling, heating and water. Distribution to the specific floors is lead under the connecting bridges which in this manner gets a double meaning.

The building is designed with natural ventilation in mind, reducing environmental strain and expenses. The atrium acts as chimney leading out hot air and all windows in the facades are controlled by an automatic system that insures the right amount of fresh air intake. The system has the possibility of being controlled locally to satisfy the individual employee´s demands.