Sun Office Sonnentor

In the summer of 2016, we were invited by Michal Šopík from the company Vesper Frames to collaborate on the preparation for the realization of the conversion of production spaces into offices at the Sonnentor company in Čejkovice.

We built upon a student competition.
The winners, Martin Malec and Uranbileg Bataa from the Czech Technical University in Prague, presented a simple and strong concept - a wooden cube surrounded by individual office spaces.
After an initial conversation with representatives of Sonnentor, we prepared the brief and got to work. The principle remained untouched. During the work on the study, the wooden cube was emphasized. Besides the meeting room, basic facilities were incorporated into it - a printer, a supply room for office materials, and a staff changing room.

We slightly shifted the cube in relation to the staircase to gain more space at the entrance. We also visually connected the meeting room with the packing room, which adjoins the office spaces. The most significant change from the competition proposal was the elimination of the relaxation zone on the "roof" of the meeting room. We abandoned it after getting to know the entire area better. Employees can use the dining area, the rooftop terrace, or the comfortable café on the ground floor, where there are plenty of opportunities for comfortable and creative relaxation.

The cube has become a strong dominant feature. We wanted the offices to surround it. Therefore, we rhythmized the glass partitions with wooden columns. The motif of surrounding is supported by horizontal libraries in the offices.

For fire safety reasons, we had to step back from the complete surrounding of the cube with a colonnade at the packing room. To maintain the connection, we left at least a generous glazing with a fireproof window.

Confirming the dominance of the cube is its illumination through a skylight. Natural daylight thus enters directly into the center of the layout. The brightness is further accentuated by the white oil used on the interior walls of the meeting room.

An important element of the entire design is lighting. The connected rings of linear light fixtures support the pyramidal shape and open the meeting room toward the skylight. Here we owe a big thank you to Josef Lejski. Thanks to his knowledge and willingness, it was possible to conceptualize and implement the recessed lights in the complicated geometry of the meeting room.
The connected linear lighting in the corridor unifies the space and takes on the horizontality of the log cabin meeting room.
Lighting in the offices is transverse and, along with the columns, helps to rhythmize the space.

In terms of materials and artistry, we aimed to show that even designs built on natural materials can be modern and clean. Therefore, we worked with a minimum of resources, always tying them to a specific space. The meeting room - wooden, the corridors - white, offices originally with acoustic heraklit cladding, later just painted.
The main driving force was the meeting room. It was made from spruce log profiles by Vesper Frames. It was assembled on-site due to access to the construction site. The surface is finished inside with white oil, and outside with gray.
The columns of the colonnade are executed in the same manner.
The office partitions, ceilings, and other cladding of the structures are made of drywall boards. The main spaces and ceilings are white, and the office walls are painted light gray.

The entire realization was arranged by the Sonnentor team under the leadership of Martin Šardický. We do not envy him the associated nerves, but the result is definitely worth it.