Shortlisted for MENA Interior Design Award 2014.

We were charged with creating a unique interior that would support a dialogue between GE and their visitors. This contemporary office interior has a fresh energetic vibe, inspiring creativity in its visitors and enabling a discourse for GE’s messages which are displayed throughout the Centre. The power and energy of GE is subtly communicated through the material finishes and design. GE’s ‘Ecomagination - Blueprint for a Better World’ campaign is a combination of photographs of the natural environment overlaid with graphics filled with ideas of how to solve some of the world’s sustainability issues. These are the offices that are used as a test bed for some of these visions. Ceilings and floor patterns are directional and dynamic, indicating energy and vision. Water and leaf motifs hang from ceilings as a reference to GE’s Ecomagination. Crystalline patterns in the carpet, tiles, wall cladding and joinery reflect cell like structures.

As this is an Innovation Centre, the office area is seen to be more imaginative than a standard office layout. The desks are located centrally and at a right angle to the office entrance. Pulling the desks away from the wall provides an opportunity to use the entire wall for ideas and brainstorming. The walls are therefore finished with magnetic writable glass ideas paint or cork notice boards. All desks are open on one or two sides, meaning anyone can pull up a visitors chair to any desk for an informal work discussion without having to move away to a meeting table. Personal, lockable pedestals are located in bays and have a small handle for easy manoeuvring. We wanted to ensure that the users really feel the detachment from a single workstation and embrace the entire Centre as one big innovative and functional workspace.