A reception area is a company’s first impression – so it should convey more than a counter and a sofa to wait on. For this company in Ettlingen, it mattered to us that the brand’s connection with nature could be felt in the space itself, before a single word is spoken.
A curved reception desk in warm wood veneer is the central element, deliberately breaking with the severity of a classic office reception. Organic, flowing forms carry through from the desk to the furniture in the waiting area.
Functional requirements such as wayfinding and screening the work area were not treated as being at odds with the design, but built into it: a perforated metal screen separates the workstation from the waiting area without visually cutting the room in two. In the waiting area, dark leather armchairs provide a calm, high-quality counterpoint.
It all began with sketches of organic, space-defining elements. From these, we worked up two variants of the reception and compared them in floor plan and perspective before settling on the final concept: across around 63 m² with a ceiling height of 3.30 m, the curved desk divides the room into four zones – waiting, reception, working and information.
The result is a reception that feels welcoming and professional at the same time – without the sterile note of so many company entrances. Anyone waiting here isn’t simply sitting; they are already picking up something of what the company stands for.
Design process
