Rounds Offices – Tel Aviv
EN Studio and hu.be design studio have collaboratively created the new office design of group video chat app Rounds located in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The company offices were built in a preserved building in the Sarona complex in Tel Aviv. Sarona was once home to an agricultural Templar colony, and in recent years has been converted to a recreation and leisure complex.
Rounds’ offices are located on the top two floors of the Friedrich Johannes and Maria Sophia Herring house, a building which was designed in 1937 by the German architect Fritz (Julius Alexander) Schettler, who is associated with the International Style. For many years the building housed the Bureau of Labor, and the offices of the Minister of Finance and the Foreign Minister.
The collaboration between hube and EN is unique. Collaborating thus creating a synergy that lead us to a multidisciplinary design process, where total designis translated into every element in the project.
In redesigning of the building’s interiors for Rounds, a company which is launching a video call app, we faced one central challenge: meeting the needs of a young, hi-tech office, and those of an originally residential historic preservation building.
Throughout the project it was important to us to flow with the preservation of the building, and to respect it, while understanding and satisfying our customer’s needs.
Architecturally, the most significant change was in opening up the areas designated for work, and creating shared, open workspaces. In the public areas a number of light partitions were built using materials like glass and metal, which integrated with the character of the existing structure.
In incorporating the company’s characteristics, we chose to paint structural systems on the ceiling using the black and yellow colors from the company logo, creating lines wandering in space, emphasizing the feel of the new contrasting the with old. During the renovation the original ceiling was uncovered and we decided to leave the exposed wood beams as a reminder of the preexisting building.
In addition to the architectural work, there was also graphic work done which is expressed on the office walls, and which was inspired by the world of entertainment and the circus, as was Rounds’ company slogan: Fun-Together-Now. The graphics are composed of various elements created using 3d printing technology, some of which are decorative and some of which are functional.
Design: EN Studio, hu.be design studio
Photography: Gidon Levin – 181°
