onion renovates inteltion office with spaces for exercising + socializing

this co-working space in bangkok is a 170 square meters renovation project designed by creative studio onion for IT consultant company inteltion. the firm has sixty employees who normally work at the clients’ offices to take care of the computer systems. in other words, they are present at the inteltion office only when waiting for a new client or project. that is to say, it is not necessary to design a desk for the individual staff since they all work from their own laptops. 

iron tube continuous from front door to the inside the office

given how mobility plays a big role in inteltion‘s business, onion‘s renovation plan creates a space that accommodates meetings with clients, interviews with new employees and, above all, encourages socialization. in terms of design, the team was concerned with the worldwide ‘office syndrome’, defined by employees suffering from health problem due to body postures at work and lack of exercise. therefore, onion decided to offer a healthier environment where people are motivated to keep track of their sedentary lifestyle. 

sliding doors at meeting room can be opened

onion began the project by observing physical activities at public parks in bangkok, and realized that the stretching modes of the elderly are more desirable than particular exercise equipment. as a result, within the office, the tools should be simple, easy to build and playful. even more, they are organised by areas — ranging from easy to difficult exercises, namely ‘finger walk’, ‘arm wheel’, ‘spinning chairs’ and ‘monkey bars’.

meeting table can be transformed into ping-pong table

a continuous iron tube is the dominant feature, functioning as handrails at the office entry, seating and table structures in the middle of the room and exercise bars at the rear of the office. to highlight continuity, onion makes use of the existing water and electricity pipes as ornaments of the office ceiling by painting them in white. hence, the overall design generates a playful and vibrant atmosphere, with objects that specifically evoke the idea of mobility.

‘the meeting table can be transformed into a table tennis table, above which is the ping-pong balls container lamp. next to it is a wall of ping-pong balls for the players to count the scores. when tired, employees can take a nap on the raised platform full of pillows, right above the movable file cabinets’. 

spinning chairs

view from raised platform

ping-pong lamp and ping-pong wall score in the meeting room

small meeting room

othello game for the office manager

co-working area

no more office syndrome, inteltion office designed by onion.
video from onion

activities in the  inteltion office

project info:

client : inteltion office
location: 14th fl. phahon yothin place, bangkok, thailand
area: 170 square meters
year: 2017

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom