In the offices of the new administrative building City Green Court, you will find dry urinals, a green wall, and "saunas"

The new offices in the City Green Court administrative building offer users a living working environment that is almost home-like in character. With maximum natural light, a green wall, a large kitchen, and room names like 'living room,' 'relax zone,' or 'sauna,' the creators from the architectural studio CUBOID responded to the strict ecological principles that the building adheres to in accordance with LEED Platinum certification, as well as the values of Skanska, which places a strong emphasis on motivational environments and employee well-being.
 
office as a living interior
The offices are more of a living interior than a typical office, whose concept and realization arose from an intensive mutual dialogue between the investor and the architectural office. The interiors designed by architects Aleš Papp, Milan Vítem, and Magda Pappová from CUBOID studio offer a pleasant space for both focused and team work, as well as peace and detail-oriented respect for the users' corporate culture. "We appreciate the layout of the office, where an employee can work at their desk in the hall or in the relax zone if they need more quiet. A favorite place for most employees are the practical phone booths with wooden benches and wooden paneling, which, thanks to the material used, demonstrate our Swedish origin. They have spontaneously come to be known as saunas,” explains Petra Semerádová from Skanska.

The space combines rooms of various characters that correspond to the alternating pace of work and the need for quality rest and privacy during working hours. The entrance hall is connected to two meeting rooms and an open social area with a generous kitchen and dining room, a place for informal gatherings and joint breakfasts. The actual office workplaces are located along the southern facade in the hall. All employees, including the company management, have their workspaces here. This concept of shared workspaces without separating management has proven successful for the architects of CUBOID studio for several years, even in their own atelier. "The work of all in one room, regardless of position, reflects the corporate culture where sharing information and trust play important roles,” adds Aleš Papp, one of the founders of the CUBOID architectural studio.

The "living room," a place for individual work that is enhanced by a vibrant green wall of approximately 20m² visible from the building's atrium, is oriented towards the atrium. The interior is dominated by two colors - white and green. The shades used correspond to Skanska's corporate identity and emphasize the friendly atmosphere.

40% lower energy consumption for heating
The interiors had to be designed in accordance with LEED certification (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design), which focuses on the impact of the building on the environment. This corresponds to the visual style, architectural concept, and especially the technologies used. "The technologies used reduce annual energy consumption costs by 33% compared to a similar office building. We adhered to the strict LEED certification criteria from the selection of materials with regard to their impact on human health and origin, to the use of technologies that drastically reduce water and energy consumption, to providing employees with views to the exterior,” explains Papp.

The architects reduced electricity consumption for lighting in the offices by 62% with a system that is centrally controlled using daylight sensors. Zumtobel fixtures in the rooms respond to changing external light conditions and smoothly adjust brightness as needed. Another interesting aspect is that the offices feature only energy-efficient LED lighting.

Thanks to better-than-standard insulation of the building and the use of heat recovery from all air expelled from the building, it has been possible to reduce energy consumption for heating by 40%. Furnishings with water-saving faucets, urinals that do not require flushing, and toilets with low water volume flushing also reduce water consumption and wastewater production by 48%. The building boasts zero consumption of drinking water for cooling and irrigation, using approximately 150,000 liters of rainwater collected in an underground tank.

In the City Green Court building by the New York studio Richard Meier & Partners, Skanska Property Czech Republic, Skanska Reality, and PricewaterhouseCoopers settle. CUBOID ARCHITECTS are the authors of the interiors of these companies' offices and collaborated with Richard Meier as the general designer of the building from the concept to detailed design.

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