New Aura headquarters in Sant Cugat, a CirculoCuadrado project.

Aura, a Company dedicated to the visual identity and signage of the environment, entrusts CírculoCuadrado Design with the comprehensive design of its new corporate headquarters in Sant Cugat del Vallés, Barcelona. All the elements of the project play with the concept of double function. 

The new corporate headquarters of Aura is located in a privileged enclave, a short distance from the center of Sant Cugat del Vallés, a town near barcelona. Àlex Dastes, CEO and owner of the company, once again relies on the CírculoCuadrado interior design studio for his office design, which has already planned his previous spaces.  

Dual-use items 

Each of the elements of this new project is designed with dual use in mind, the hallmark of the Catalan studio. Accessing through the main entrance of the industrial warehouse that houses the offices, the reception and the customer waiting room are located. The interior designers create a visually connected space through the furniture itself, custom designed for this project. The volume of the envelope of the reception desk is lined with light-colored porcelain stoneware, like the flooring on this floor, and extends to the iron sheet stairs. There it covers one of the steps and breaks with the blak of the metal sheet. 

The Reception 

At the same time, on the opposite wall, CírculoCuadrado has a bench that runs through the center of the floor and serves as a seat as well as a magazine display and lighting stand. Blue and turquoise cushions are placed on their bench. Upon recepit, access to the factory is concealed by a sand-colored wood-imitation laminate panel. The bench and the rest of the reception furniture are made of the same material, except for the front of the reception lined with iron sheet, like the staircase. Continuing with this double reading of each element, the reception wall is joined to the wall where the bench is placed by means of a metal piece lacquered in the same tones. These two pieces serve as indirect lighting for this area, creating light ad shadow, an intimate and relaxed atmosphere. 

The central cabinet

The metal tongue goes up to the work area on the first floor. Here, the flooring is made of two-colored carpet: the central transit area, in anthracite gray, and the perimeter areas and offices, in sand. Coinciding with the dark gray flooring, the effect is repeated on the black painted ceiling, where a led strip is inserted forming a rectangle that provides the necessary lighting, while creating a very interesting decorative effect. 

CírculoCuadrado places a large piece of furniture in the center of the floor, playing with duality again. The piece works as a separator while serving as storage for the operational area of the offices. Seen from the front and combining the corporate colors of Aura, the furniture plays with the full-empty effect. The lighting in this area is resolved with direct light on each table by means of a suspended metal profile.  

Address Dispatch 

In front of the three remaining faces of this piece of furniture, the different offices and the meeting room are placed. The intention, as in the access area, is to visually connect each area, giving it the necessary privacy, but allowing the entire plant to be visually connected. The glass works as a separator, framed in screens made to measure of the same laminate as the rest of the project. 

In the management office, there is a table designed for this project and, in front of it, a 90 cm high conference table with stools for informal meetings. An area of sofas and an office copmplete this office. 

The meeting room is designed to accomodate tewlve people. It is an area for meetings and long working hours. At one end of the table, on the wall, another custom-designed element houses a small office and a storage unit. The project is completed with two large offices and a room dedicated to creativity and design. 

Equipment

In the central part of the reception, three rounds poufs upholstered with Gastón y Daniela fabrics are placed on a blue-toned Cotlin rug. Upon receipt, a laminate paneling imitating sand-stained wood from the Deco In brand and the rest of the furniture are made of this material. The two works of art on the wall are by Nuria Guinovart. In the operational work area, a large custom-made island-shaped piece of furniture with storage and separator functions has been placed. In the meeting room, the chairs with wheels are the Arper caifa 53 model, which combine white polypropylene and fabric in green tones. The lighting has been made by the company Aura itself. In the work area on the first floor, the tables are made to measure and the chairs are from Arper, Kinesit model. In the management office, the table is made to measure and the executive chair is the Aston model by Arper. As visitor chairs, Arper's Catifa 53 are prescribed, combined with one another in green tones. Around the 90 cm work table, Enea Lottus stools combine polypropylene and fabric. 

Technical Sheet

• Aura, Sant Cugat del Vallés. Barcelona.

• Project: CírculoCuadrado Interior design Studio. 

• Styling and atrezzo: Mar Gausachs.

• Furniture: Arper, Enea, CírculoCuadrado.
• Lighting and signaling: Aura Identidad Visual.
• Text: Van Vilallonga.
• Pothography Luís González Cruz, Apolinart.

https://www.distritooficina.com/espacios/circulocuadrado/