Group8 settled in its new workspace in May 2010. A former industrial hall near the centre of Geneva (Switzerland), hosts the offices designed in order to make the best use of the 9m of height and 780m². This white and luminous space contains a hidden treasure: of 16 recycled shipping containers. All of which have been travelling for thousands of kilometres over the oceans of the globe. Piled as giant Legos, the containers were kept “as found” without any exterior cosmetic transformation. This aesthetic keeps the poetry of their former use and differentiates them from the immateriality of the large neutral space in which they lie.

Modern objects and industrial space both recover a functional use, which turns them into contemporary living and working spaces. The containers formalize structured collective spaces as each container embodies a collective form or situation of work: meeting rooms, cafeteria, lounge zones, bathrooms, showers, etc.

The other half of the scheme is in opposition with the containers’ structured zone: an open space illuminated by natural light travelling through the glass-roof. This informal working space gathers all the employees together, generating a strong synergy of work. The second zone is composed of informal meeting spaces (exchange spaces) that are radically differentiated by the containers’ privacy. The white open space gives shape to a neutral environment, necessary for creative work. The white furniture gives a spatial rhythm as a calculated skyline, like a small city inside the city.