2017 Gallery
Award: Workplace Design
Archer Office for The EDG Forum
This fit out creates a multi-purpose space within a heritage listed building. The original fabric is carefully restored, before being wrapped in a permeable cotton cord ‘veil’ that improves the current amenity of the space, while allowing views through to the heritage brickwork and protecting it for the future.
Jury Citation
The EDG Forum nearly transcends this category into art installation with its precise execution of a single clear idea that’s been determinedly realized. By wrapping the space in permeable cotton cord to screen the heritage brickwork, the designers have successfully unified the interior of the iconic former Reader’s Digest Building in one slick move. The Brutalist architecture is softened as much as it is celebrated.
The jury applauded this genuinely inventive concept, which transforms the space for maximum impact and results in a scheme displaying undeniable innovation and experimentation. It’s a flawlessly executed idea that makes for true delight; playful, novel and a project guaranteed to trigger reaction.
While the EDG Forum demonstrates how to materialize something great with a relatively simple organic material, it also exemplifies a change in workplace design by shifting the focus onto “third spaces.” These non-working areas are considered just as important as fixed desk spaces. Every nook and cranny of today’s workplace needs to be smartly designed to achieve added value and the jury commends the designers of the EDG Forum for proving that beyond a doubt.