UNS Office Frankfurt

2022

The Frankfurt office of the global design and consulting firm UNS is nestled in a historic former bank building in the heart of Frankfurt am Main. Once home to the Bethmann family’s private banking legacy, this two-winged landmark has been reimagined through the "Massif Central" concept—a dynamic hub for creative businesses and public events. Since 2023, this vibrant space has become a unique gathering point, making it an ideal home for UNS. Acting as both designer and client, we shaped our Frankfurt office to reflect the diverse, open spirit of UNS and to foster a welcoming culture.

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UNS’ Frankfurt office is located on the second floor of the left wing. A colourful entrance greets you as you approach the office via the monumental staircase, hinting at the inspiring atmosphere inside. The design of the office itself translates current approaches to healthy and stimulating workplaces into a cosy local culture cluster - a workplace that exudes an atmosphere of freedom and creativity and gives employees a feeling of being at home.

The skilfull reuse of building materials and the promotion of the potential of the existing space were the central themes of the renovation concept. The pre-existing spatial structure was already welcoming and open - only a small meeting room at the entrance was replaced by a large, open welcome lounge. We removed the existing panel ceiling and lights to gain more ceiling height and openness, bringing an exciting character to the space with the technical components in the ceiling. Collaborating with Deltalight, we developed a lighting concept that is suspended from the original ceiling and individually highlights each area. In combination with the Jung Home series, the lighting solutions perfectly control the individual needs of the various rooms and spaces, while fitting in harmoniously with the other furnishing elements.

The entire space includes two hot-desk islands that are connected by a central family table and an inspiring library with a reading area. The common room offers space for the free development of ideas and interaction, while two meeting rooms facilitate connection to the other teams within the global United Network Studio.
Alongside workspaces, we created special areas for both interaction and retreat, connected by a new floor that emphasises a landscape-like structure throughout the office. We added a CO2-neutral carpet to complement the existing red carpet from Bethmann Bank, featuring two series from Interface: Contemplation as a neutral base and Touch and Tones III for a striking graphical accent.

This playful and inspiring office environment is enriched by modular furnishing systems and furniture pieces that were all developed in collaborations between UNS’ Experience Design team and international manufacturers of high-quality furniture, including Ahrend, La Cividina, Fantoni, and Walter Knoll.

To unify the elements and colours of the carpet and furniture, we chose suitable tinted wall colours from the Caparol 3D range, opting for a beautiful dark blue and a light green. Acting as large vertical surfaces, soft components such as curtains and fabrics were also crucial to our design. Various textures add exciting accents and can be changed to create new perspectives. Kvadrat provided us with the perfect colours and qualities. We selected a muted light pink from the Rocket series, featuring a mesh structure that allows glimpses through and harmoniously integrates the existing red carpet into the overall design. The green, denser curtain from the Relate series complements tones from the accent carpet and our Node+ sofa landscape by La Cividina.