The client, a major Russian bank acquired vacant space to develope a private banking facility. Located on the 9th floor of an office building near Red Square, Moscow, consisting of 2200 usable square feet of irregular demised space. The space consists of only five windows which provide natural daylight to the entire space. The Bank's headquarters is located in another building. Therefore, the relationship of this space is not contiguous to adjacent space for circulation. Entry into space is via an atrium area. The design challenges were to go beyond the client's objectives of a modular enclosed office plan. The design team provided a successful open environment, utilizing the high floor to ceiling slab height, and maximizing the natural light penetrating into the entire space. At the same time, there was a need to provide a degree of privacy for each individual client.

 

PRIVATE BANKING CENTER, DIALOG BANK, Moscow, Russia

Other design challenges included being able to control the quality of the work with materials and specialty labor which are not the norm in Russia, ex; fresco plaster, acoustical panels, galvanized steel panel ceilings, etc., even though most of the project had been designed with familiar locally available materials. The objective was to create a modern space which encourages rejecting the local traditional space planning concepts and projects a new rhythm for the space.

Le Corbusier had written a poem on the importance of natural light in a space, "The key is light and light illuminates shapes, and shapes have an emotional power". Space illumination with natural light via glass walls, semi translucent glass panels, and the open space above the conference room and manager's office covey form, and defines the varied material textures from the light transformed thru the translucent materials. The filtered light picks out the colors and textures of the wall surfaces at the most distant areas in the space, and recognizes these areas as being just as important.

Space planning had been developed to capture and accommodate the interior design as a dramatic use of space with sensitivity. Account executives were provided with the window area, while the manager's office is an interior space--a rewarding departure from the local influence.