ACABADO MATE’s renovation of the LT ENERRAY offices

There has been much talk about how the Covid-19 pandemic has influenced the world of work, with remote working and online meetings replacing a lot of tasks that were formerly performed in the office. We may be gradually leaving this time in history behind, but it has had a profound impact on us and on our physical spaces. Especially offices, where the concept of flexible working is finally taking hold, leading to a new way of designing office space. This project in Bologna is the perfect example.
LT Enerray, a company concerned with operation and maintenance of renewable energy systems, needed new offices to offer users greater comfort and accommodate future growth. In a building that is part of a new office complex, with an intentionally permeable and easily adaptable layout, the two Italian architects of ACADABOMATE, who live and work in Barcelona, created a workplace perfectly suited to the new demands of agile working and a varying number of people. 
In order to host people performing different activities, Alessandra Faraone and Valeria Merola worked with interior designer Laura Muñoz on creation of a fluid, flexible space with different atmospheres and a strong focus on users’ visual and acoustic comfort. With the intention of establishing harmony between spaces for concentration and relaxation, indoor offices and outdoor work areas, and permitting permanent users and occasional users of the office space to work side by side, colours and materials became the key to the design process. A closer look at the project reveals why the studio calls itself ACABADO MATE, meaning “matt finish”, because these are the details that bring the workspace to life, as an important means of design. The two architects explain: “Colour is engaging and creates states of mind. Much of our work on the project involved striving for the spatial sensation we wanted to convey through finishes, intuitively understanding how the effect of a colour changes if it is applied to an entire wall or just to the metal trim, or to a chair or table.”
The spaces are divided over four floors of offices, from the basement to the attic, totalling 450 square metres and including a variety of spaces from meeting rooms to individual and shared workstations, with a first-floor terrace providing a place to chat and relax in summer.
ACABADO MATE’s creative touch, accompanied by a variety of green indoor plants creating a pleasant indoor microclimate, is completed by artworks. And so we find posters illustrating LT Enerray’s philosophy as interpreted by illustrator Judy Kaufmann, drawing on the colours used in the interior design, while the writing stating the company’s goals on the walls is by graphic designer Marieke Bielas, who also created the signage and the logo wall at the entrance. 
The result of the renovation project is an office that is less rational and more intuitive, empathetic and domestic than in the past, a workplace with added value: functional but never boring, as the furnishings and colour give it a playful touch and a warmth that makes LT ENERRAY’s offices feel like a good place to be.

Christiane Bürklein

Project: ACABADO MATE – Alessandra Faraone and Valeria Merola with Laura Muñoz, interior designer
Location: Bologna, Italy
Year: 2021
Images: Marcela Grassi