Playkot Offices – Saint Petersburg

Firm
  • Client Playkot,
  • size 9,705 sqft
  • Year 2016
  • Location Saint Petersburg, Russia,
  • Industry Gaming,
  • BRIZstudio has designed the offices of gaming company Playkot, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

    Playkot is a St. Petersburg-based developer of online games for such platforms as Facebook, VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. The main task for the BRIZ studio architects was to create a comfortable workspace for five teams of the dynamic IT-company in a space with an open plan measuring over 900 sq. m, with the 3 m high ceilings, panoramic view and a gallery balcony along the façade perimeter.

    Natural color palette defined with a wide use of birch veneer dominates the modern minimalistic finishing with a Scandinavian touch. To avoid monotony, some of the veneer-finished planes are treated with perforation. The use of sound-absorbing material on the backside of such panels transforms them into a “sound trap” improving acoustics of the open space. Color accents are introduced with the bright items of minimalistic furniture; violet, the brand color of the company, became the main accent nuance.

    The central part of the rectangular space hosts an open space work area equipped with desks that allow choosing a seated or standing mode of use. The vestibule equipped with a coffee point and 3D printer and hosting meeting rooms serves as a waiting area for guests and meeting zone for all departments. One of the meeting rooms provides space for Warhammer 40,000 tournaments that are an important part of corporate culture of the company. Two higher tables with drawers for maps and other gaming paraphernalia can be easily transformed into a single piece thanks to castors.

    A route of smoothened zigzags connects the functional zones; instead of walking, some employees prefer to challenge it on kick scooters. Objects set along the route back the open space and create a more comfortable work atmosphere for the teams. Several booths for phone talks complete the structuring of the space. Two big roof lanterns mark the special areas on the transit route. One of them is transformed into a communication zone with a green wall of ivy and a high-backrest sofa that ensures privacy. The second roof lantern became a cozy library with a meeting room in bright colors on top of it.

    The dining space with a kitchen is finished with a glass partition to maintain the feeling of openness set out in the workspace of the office. Windowsills and groups of comfortable poufs provide a facility for spontaneous exchanges. A gallery ranging along the south façade welcomes for relaxation and informal communication. The room of the head of the company corresponds to the overall minimalistic finishing and, at the same time, offers higher level of privacy.

    DesignBRIZstudio
    Project directors: Anna Maslova, Grigory Neverov
    Architects: Maxim Scherbakov, Alexander Boev
    Photography: Grigory Neverov, Maxim Scherbakov