b-ing Interiors
Brownie, new offices
Fashion fit-out
Brownie is a successful Barcelona based fashion company. The following text was provided by designer Nora Batlle in collaboration with Kalimba Studio, who together are responsible for the design of the brand’s new offices in El Putxet, Barcelona.
The previous Brownie offices had become too small for this expanding Barcelona based women’s clothing firm. So a new property was identified on c/ Castanyer for the larger offices. The brief was for a modest refurbishment budget that would nevertheless represent the company’s values that is focused on employee wellbeing. The objective was to avoid the classic office and transform the space into a pleasant place of work where encounters and creativity is encouraged.
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The first step in the transformation was to paint the walls of the found building pink, a colour that reflects the feminine nature of the brand, its philosophy and charm. Many of the existing materials were replace with better quality ones, linear light tubes were employed for lighting to create a more sculptural feel and the original doorway was reused that also made a reference to the brand’s history.
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On the floor accommodating the design department, the ceilings were removed, leaving the services exposed, lending the space an industrial workshop-studio character. To maintain the warmth and intimacy of the different rooms, curtains were used to separate the various spaces, pine wood screens were installed. The Led strips on suspended rails were combined with spotlights to provide a more neutral lighting to facilitate greater accuracy in the work of specifically for displaying the samples and the textiles used for Brownies clothing, a pattern room, a small showroom and a space to store and display its history of collections.
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On the third floor, intended mainly for the marketing and communication teams, the cabinets of the old office were reused, painted them pastel pink, transparent screens were used to make the most of natural light, the vinyl in the meeting rooms was changed by curtains and framed textile elements for wall decoration. On the same floor, a shooting room was also installed, a room to prepare the styling of the models, a changing room and a kitchen based on IKEA but modified to measure with the craftsmanship of a carpenter.
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For the bathrooms, it was decided to take advantage of existing ones from the old offices, the only change was to paint the old tiles and changing the mirrors. And to top the project, the roof was transformed into a green space for employee relaxation and leisure, an area to practice yoga, snack or unwind from a hard day's work. A new pilot store was installed on first floor.
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Brownie
Nora Batlle and Kalimba Studio
Photography Meritxell Arjalaguer