Office boxes with a closed perimeter and boring territory are a thing of the past. They are replaced by workspaces created on the principle of places for the exchange of ideas, communication, collaborations and work not from 9 to 18, but for pleasure. How does the demand of modern business change the office segment today and what does it give to the city and new projects in the environment? Let’s look at the example of the STONE Savelovskaya class A business center, which embodies the leading trends of modern office construction

STONE Savelovskaya is one of the five business centers of the developer STONE HEDGE under the STONE brand, which is being built in seven minutes on foot from m. “Savelovskaya” is 500 meters from the TTK. The business center includes two 100-meter towers united by a two-level stylobate. Inside – offices from 50 sq. m. m with an increased volume of glazing and a developed public and business infrastructure, implemented within the framework of the be CITIZEN concept. The architect of the project was the bureau “Tsimailo Lyashenko and Partners”. The developer developed the idea of landscaping together with architects from the Basis architectural bureau, and the interiors of public spaces, taking into account the best European trends, were implemented by the London studio KEMELIN PARTNERS.be CITIZEN is a concept developed by developer STONE HEDGE for office projects in the STONE line.

The business centers designed in this concept are distinguished by the most comfortable and healthy space for employees and a developed social environment, which becomes the focus of the project and allows future residents to realize their potential and achieve success. By purchasing even a small office in such a building, the owner receives a whole package of ready—made high-quality infrastructure – from meeting rooms and public spaces to modern fitness centers, cafes and restaurants. Office transformation + be CITIZEN

A combination of factors led to the necessary changes in the concept of modern in-demand offices, ranging from HR trends associated with a change in the attitude of employees to office work, to a public request that requires additional value from an office facility in a big city, in addition to its direct functionality. Today, the office is an HR tool for attracting the best minds, primarily a place for communication, career growth and the development of their own competencies. 

In 2022, large companies, at one time fascinated by the idea of remote work, saw the consequences of this experiment. Today, IT giants such as Yandex are returning employees to their headquarters in order to re-form social ties, establish an effective exchange of experience and institute mentoring. All these aspects are a necessary part of the creative work leading the company to development, and it is the new office that becomes a fruitful environment for this. 

Being in the business center, employees not only interact closely with each other on work issues, but also constantly move around the public spaces of their office – these can be open meeting rooms, lounge spaces or kitchen areas. However, not all companies have the need to buy or rent a large office space. In this case, they pay attention to those business centers where public spaces have already been incorporated into the project by the developer and are available to every resident as places of communication and generation of ideas.

Small offices in Class A projects from 40 sq. m. are a unique offer in the commercial real estate market. Today, there is an increased interest in such objects on the part of end users — representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, which has been actively developing recently. Last year alone, the growth of business turnover amounted to 33%. Offices of a small area prefer designer showrooms, beauty studios or “young” creative agencies. Investors also pay attention to such offices, hoping to rent them out profitably in the future.

Taking into account these factors, STONE HEDGE has relied on a single concept of a business center as a space not only for work, but also for communications. For example, STONE Savelovskaya expects that small office blocks in the future will be occupied by companies that are developing in the field of import substitution today: small regional production facilities enter the capital market and need representative offices for key personnel and customer meetings. This is exactly the opportunity provided for them in STONE Savelovskaya: a quiet and cozy office is complemented by a stormy life in public spaces, an open landscaped area and a healthy environment. This concept was named be CITIZEN in the company and became a unique offer in the segment of Class A offices. 

Five components of the be CITIZEN concept

•  be MOBILE. Get to work quickly, get around the city comfortably

• be ON TIME. Business center with developed infrastructure: solve your problems here and now

• be ACTIVE. Sports infrastructure and outdoor activity areas: keep in shape

• be HEALTHY. A business center that supports your health and productivity: work to the maximum

• be SUCCESSFUL. Purposeful and reliable resident companies are future partners, public spaces are an active networking zone: create business connections and develop here and now

Open to everything new

If offices in a modern business center are private and detailed work-only spaces, then public areas or lobbies become one of the spaces for the implementation of the be CITIZEN concept in STONE by Stone Hedge projects.

With this approach, the workspace goes beyond the office walls, allowing you to independently choose the most attractive environment for work, whether it is a design lobby of a business center, a meeting room or soft zones next to a coffee point. 

Previously, the lobby in large business centers served mainly as a reception area, but with the development of digitalization, this purpose fades into the background. Digitalization of the functions of issuing passes, receiving correspondence and access control frees up space in favor of the social function. There is a view lounge, soft waiting areas or places for small talk with colleagues. And in STONE Savelovskaya, a business lounge for active networking is included in the lobby, equipped with everything necessary for short meetings, mini-meetings or signing documents. 

The focus of attention at the level of interior design and aesthetics of the lobby is a person for whom biophilic elements are created, natural textures that are pleasant to the touch. Bright colors are replaced by a more comfortable color scheme for the eye, and light plays a huge role. So, when creating the interior of the STONE Savelovskaya lobby, which was attended by the London bureau KEMELIN PARTNERS, accents were made on natural light, textured concrete and landscaping, which are designed to maintain the psychological comfort of residents and guests. 

Each project, whether architecture or interior, illustrates our desire to understand human behavior in space and create new emotions

KEMELIN PARTNERS

It is important for us to recognize the moment when there is nothing more to add or remove. The design should be simple and effective, but at the same time beautiful and inspiring. Such an approach can help create an environment conducive to increasing the productivity, creativity and satisfaction of people who will use buildings and spaces. Each project comes with its own special history, its own unique architecture and asks us a question where our main aspiration is to find a unique answer.

In addition to creating mood and atmosphere, in large office projects, the lobby serves as a logistics hub, distributing flows in the project. So, in STONE Savelovskaya from the lobby you can directly get to the shopping gallery, dining room and fitness center, which provides residents with access to the entire internal infrastructure without the need to go outside. 

A private shopping gallery in the business center is also a space that meets the requirements of be CITIZEN. These are not only cafes and restaurants, but also sports infrastructure, shops, services for solving everyday tasks here and now. In STONE Savelovskaya, for example, a full-fledged fitness center will be located on the 2nd floor of the shopping gallery. There is also a canteen for employees. Two large anchor tenants will become an additional source of traffic for small retail spaces in the neighborhood. The STONE Savelovskaya infrastructure block provides premises in a shopping gallery of 10 sq. m. m and classic street retail. Today, surrounded by a business center, there is no competitive offer of retail infrastructure, while residential development is actively developing. In particular, two residential complexes for 5,000 people are being built nearby, which will provide additional customer flow to the STONE Savelovskaya infrastructure, making it a point of attraction for residents of the district.  

Every detail in the shopping gallery is created wisely: there will be racks with smart supports where people can just stand, talk on the phone and drink coffee. Due to the panoramic glazing, the shopping gallery becomes an extension of the internal territory of the business center, where the green landscape also plays the role of a functional zone that supports a healthy lifestyle of residents. Lounge sofas will be installed along the panoramic windows so that informal negotiations are “accompanied” by green view characteristics.

Healthy environment

A building that becomes lifeless after its employees have left it, not only does not paint the city, but also does not bring it economic benefits. In the world, this problem has long been solved not only by placing shopping areas and coffee shops on the first floors of business centers, but also by high-quality landscaping. 

Walking routes of residents of nearby residential complexes on the way to the metro pass near the business center. All these circumstances directly affected the specifics of the territory planning and its improvement, the concept of which the developer will develop together with the Basis architectural bureau. Taking into account the active pedestrian traffic on the territory of the business center, the general improvement of STONE Savelovskaya includes quiet areas for work and measured rest, as well as active public spaces combined with restaurants and cafe areas. The latter are located at the ground floor level and will be open to citizens. 

The STONE Savelovskaya external space, created only for residents of the business center, will become an additional functional area. Access to the internal territory is provided directly from the business lounge. In warm weather, it will be especially pleasant to hold a working meeting here or just relax.

Business center as a point of attraction for the whole area

It has long been known that an office building can change the architectural appearance of an entire district. It is enough to recall the “Catalan cucumber” — the Agbar Tower in Barcelona, which has become one of the modern symbols of the city, or the Montparnasse tower in Paris. 

A modern business center affects the city’s appearance not only externally. Thanks to the emergence of new infrastructure as an integral part of modern business centers – restaurants, landscaped “green” spaces or even full—fledged park areas, shops — citizens have more opportunities for walking and socializing. 

The business center ceases to be a “thing in itself”, opening up for free access, becomes a point of attraction for the whole area. And the city gets not just jobs, but a new place of power, which in itself is a value. 

Understanding the duty of a modern office facility to be part of the development of the urban environment, STONE HEDGE implements five business centers in different locations in Moscow, choosing a unique solution for each of them that helps the development of a particular area.  

Photo: renderers of the class A business center STONE SavelovskayaAdvertisement.

Stonehenge JSC

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