The End of the Cubicle

When design-led office-furniture manufacturer Nurus partnered up with global professional-services firm Deloitte to reimagine their Istanbul HQ, the result was an environment as fit for forward-facing work culture as it is creatively inspiring.

By Nurus and Johannes Hünig for

Nurus

June 16, 2015 | 10:00 pm CUT

In Istanbul Nurus has furnished new offices for consultants Deloitte on an area of 12,500 square metres. The overall concept includes open-plan workstations interspersed with enclosed spaces for undisturbed work

You know that you are dealing with a successful project when client and service provider work well together and not only produce a good result but learn from each other in the process. An excellent example of this is the new offices of the management consultants Deloitte in Istanbul, which have recently been furnished by office furniture specialists Nurus. The approach taken by the long-established Turkish company not only makes an aesthetic and functional impact, it also reflects recent changes in the structure of working operations within large corporations, thus becoming a model for future projects. "The partnership with Deloitte has given us a new understanding of the office", is the general opinion at Nurus.

The furnishing concept combines open spaces with areas which can be flexibly closed off. Both are suitable for work and for meetings and discussions, providing the kind of maximum flexibility which is required by today's new working culture

Lots of wood, warm colours and natural materials create an atmosphere in which work is an enjoyable experience – the large, impersonal open-plan office is a thing of the past. The vertical garden is an especially striking feature

The figures are impressive: the overall project covers an area of 12,500 square metres, with 11 floors and 70 conference rooms as well as office areas, communal spaces and a café. This may sound overpowering, but the initial impression is by no means that of a mighty corporation. In spite of their highly contemporary formal idiom, the rooms at first sight look surprisingly homely, inviting and varied. There's a lot of wood, warm grey and expensive-looking carpet, with green and violet adding striking touches of colour in some areas. The chairs, tables and stand-alone items of furniture from the Nurus programme which have been used are all witness to imaginative design standards and contribute to the harmonious overall impression. It is obvious that - rather than intimidating those who work in them - the spaces which have been created here provide the company's staff with surroundings that have a human dimension.

However, no matter how important style and aesthetics are in the working environment, the real quality of this particular furnishing concept doesn't reveal itself until we take a closer look. This quality consists of the way in which the spatial structure and the furnishings reflect developments in the 21st-century world of work, and enable a new way of working which would hardly have been possible in conventional offices. At Nurus, this change is described as follows: "Today there is little scope left for cube-like systems, enclosed spaces or rigidly demarcated hierarchical structures. An optimal present-day working environment creates space for interaction and the transfer of know-how and ideas. In consequence we create rooms in such a way that people feel at home in them and can work productively and with the right motivation."

The new Deloitte Turkey HQ in Istanbul has 70 conference rooms, equipped not just with premium-quality furniture of excellent design but also with the latest communication and presentation technology

The implications of this are quickly made clear by the spatial structure of the offices, which focuses entirely on flexibility and freedom. No less than 800 square metres is designed as an open-plan area in which staff can work and interact freely with one another. Thanks to Wi-Fi and a laptop, they can even move their work into the café. The work stations themselves are designed flexibly for desk sharing, and are accessible to all personnel. Because a customised work station is available for each operation, staff can switch work stations depending on the specific activity they are engaged in. The conference rooms, communications and quiet areas are designed in such a varied way that staff can find exactly the right environment for any form of team or individual work. Instead of fixed telephones on the desk, there are soundproof phone cells in which staff can make calls without disturbing their colleagues. A good 20 per cent of the space is dedicated to training and motivational operations – this, too, is exemplary.

In addition to classical office furniture Nurus also furnishes the premises of its clients with lounge furniture, created in cooperation with a number of prestigious international designers and delivered with astonishing speed

Company canteen or fashionable bar? The café of the new Deloitte HQ in Istanbul not only invites staff to take a break but also to work together in relaxed surroundings

As a reference project the Deloitte Istanbul office accordingly encompasses every aspect of contemporary working operations, while at the same time representing a project which is typical of Nurus. This family firm, founded in Ankara by Nurettin Usta as a carpentry shop in 1927, has since acquired a world-wide reputation as a specialist producer of innovative office furniture featuring premium-quality design. This is confirmed by no less than 40 operating locations and an impressive customer list containing prestigious names such as Adidas, Apple, IBM and JP Morgan. What makes Nurus special is that the company offers one-stop shopping, ranging from individual articles of furniture from its own production facilities via turnkey office furnishings right down to integrated furnishing concepts for large-scale projects. Individual solutions are provided not just for the classical office but also for educational facilities, clinics, retail space and even airport terminals. This is made possible by the kind of product depth in all price ranges which is rarely encountered nowadays. For example, the company's product portfolio ranges from furniture concepts for the individual work station to entire conference rooms, not forgetting comfortable seating arrangements for the reception area, tables and chairs for the company restaurant and not least exclusive furniture for the offices on the executive floor. Accordingly there are modules available for every application, enabling Nurus to respond - in cooperation with the customer - to almost any requirements and provide made-to-measure solutions.

The interchange between open and enclosed areas, between lounge furniture and classical office furniture runs like a leitmotif throughout the entire project

In its design operations the company's own team cooperates with prestigious international designers. The result is furniture with high standards of excellence when it comes to design - which accounts for more than 30 design prizes in the last 15 years alone. However, it isn't just the design and quality of the products which is impressive. Equally remarkable is the speed with which Nurus develops new products and places them on the market. It only took two months for the Ashbury office furniture range designed by Stefan Brodbeck in cooperation with the Nurus design team to progress from initial sketch to market launch. For the company this means that it can react flexibly and fast to changing trends and requirements, not just in terms of design but also with an eye to new functions and technical innovations. The benefit for customers in their turn is that it enables individual solutions to be provided within a very short time frame. This fast delivery also applies to standard products, with a dense network of sales centres ensuring that as a rule it only takes three days until the furniture ordered reaches the customer. This kind of service will be greatly appreciated by anyone who has had to wait several weeks for an urgently required office chair to arrive.

In order to create facilities for undisturbed work or meetings, Nurus has integrated a number of room-in-room enclosures into the project. These are ideal for anyone who needs to work in peace and quiet or make a phone call

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