Magicbox Offices – Barcelona
OMA Octavio Mestre Arquitectos and Elastiko collaborated to deliver an imaginative workspace for Magicbox located in Barcelona, Spain.
OMA Octavio Mestre Arquitectos and Elastiko, an architectural studio headed by Iker Alzola, are responsible for the architecture and interior design for the new headquarters of Magicbox, a leading company in the collectible toy industry.
The project, located in the town of Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), has a total area of 3,800m2 organized in three floors and two of underground parking. With a triangular floor plan, the new building stands out for its ceramic facade in which a series of “bites” or openings bring natural light inside the facility.
The inner spaces denote a great personality, far from conventional aesthetics, and reinforce the brand’s image, thus fulfilling one of the client’s requirements.
With a total area of almost 3,800 m2 organized in ground floor + 2 and two floors of underground parking, the Magicbox building has a unique triangular floor plan that arises from the geometry of the corner plot.
At the entrance, the floors are set back like a cascade around the triple-height hall and the large glazed facade is inclined as if to welcome the visitors. The building’s main facades are clad with a double skin of large-format ceramic, sometimes solid, sometimes perforated, which plays with the light inside the building, creating watery effects.
The building’s structure has only six pillars, none of them on the 700 m2 upper floor. This floor is fixed by means of long metal trusses that cover the entire space and remain visible, resting on the structural concrete walls that make up the facades.
The careful design of the thermal enclosure in all its components, combined with an efficient air conditioning system with heat recovery units, make the building highly energy efficient.
For the design process, Elastiko has collaborated closely with the Magicbox creative team, achieving an interior that reflects the creative, innovative and fun spirit of the company, incorporating elements and colors from their worlds and characters. The studio led by Iker Alzola has designed for this building diaphanous areas on all floors to convey breadth and allow visual relationships between the different interior spaces and the exterior, ideal for the new working methods. Thus, the project becomes a healthy work area that optimizes the use of natural light and prioritizes the well-being of its employees, providing optimal lighting, good acoustic design, and high quality in common and collaborative spaces.
The lobby leads to the ground floor, the most public one, which, in addition to the open office work area, houses the showroom and the cafeteria with direct access to the garden. In the cafeteria and the showroom, the plastic textured floor and red and mustard yellow colors take on a great prominence, helping to identify the different uses of the building and reinforcing the creative image of the company. The entire first floor has great transparency, inviting visitors to go inside.
The second floor is reserved for the creative team. The different types of meeting rooms are designed with the same principles, as well as the workshop with a space for 3D printers. The second floor houses the management offices, an open office area and the main meeting room, which has been designed with tall glass sheets that overcome the imposing headroom of up to 5 meters on this floor.
Design: OMA Octavio Mestre Arquitectos and Elastiko
OMA Design Team: Octavio Mestre, Albert Lluch, Jaume Trullà, Carlos Maurette
Elastiko Design Team: Iker Alzola, Gianluca Giaccone, Ariadna Privat, Gala Núñez
Photography: José Hevia
