Page 21 - AIT1218_Leseprobe

Entwurf • Design Urban Soul Project, GR-Thessaloniki
Bauherr • Client Eurobank, Luxemburg
Standort • Location Mayfair Pl., GB-London
Nutzfläche • Floor space 256 m 2
Fotos • Photos Kimberley Powell, GR-Thessaloniki
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More infos on page 162

EUROBANK

IN LONDON

As a private bank, Eurobank Luxembourg offers its
clients an exclusive interior inside the listed Devonshire
House, which is centrally located on Piccadilly in
London. After the new restructuring of the work areas,
the focus of the interior design is now on an extensive
art collection that gives private customers the feeling of
conducting their financial affairs with good friends.

A s a manor house, city residence and venue for opulent celebrati-
ons, concerts and receptions, Devonshire House in London has
always had a high value for its urban surroundings. Built at the end of
the 17th century under the name Berkeley House, it was renamed by
its later owner, the first Duke of Devonshire. A fire, to which the house
fell victim in the middle of the 18th century, presented a perfect oppor-
tunity to reconstruct the building - in keeping with the prevailing zeit-
geist of the time - in Palladian style. The Duke commissioned the
renowned architect William Kent with this project, thus giving him his
first building project in London. The fact that an extensive art collecti-
on adorned the rooms at the time has now been taken up by Urban
Soul Project, Eleftheria Oikonomaki and their team of architects from
Greece and incorporated into the redesign of these same interiors for
Eurobank Luxembourg. In addition to a functional extension of the pre-
mises to include the additional work areas, conference rooms, and
reception area necessary for a private bank, the new architectural
vocabulary was adapted to the corporate colour. Blue walls and uphol-
stery in combination with oak wood used for the walls and floor, as
well as matt gold-coloured metal details characterise the luxurious
interiors for clients and employees. Starting at the reception, whose
counters as well as the conference table tops are made of Greek
Volakas marble, the L-shaped floor plan develops consistently from
transparent public openness to a small-scale private sphere. Room-in-
room systems made of glass allow both insights - and thus a feeling of
expanse and openness - as well as undisturbed meetings. The custo-
mer's path through the premises is flanked by the already mentioned
art collection, which sets perceptible highlights in the surrounding
calm material and colour combination due to its different spectrum of
colours and motifs and lets the office furnishings fade into the back-
ground. Bank clients are given the credible feeling of walking through
the tastefully furnished rooms of an art collector and thus develop a
Grundriss • Floor plan feeling of great privacy - like being with friends.

AIT 12.2018 • 111