betillon / dorval bory: basic office

‘basic office’ by betillon / dorval-bory architectes image © simon deprez

parisian architecture firm betillon / dorval-bory set up their ‘basic office’ in a renovated shop space near luxembourg gardens, paris.
with only 25 square meters to work with, the architects decided to keep it simple. instead of breaking up the area into compartments,
an open space allows the light from the front window to flood to the back.

two strips of workspaces are divided by a central circulation aisle. this allows for the flexible arrangement of stations
as well as providing wall space above the desks where storage cabinets are mounted and illuminated from behind by fluorescent tubes.
the wall washing aims to give a sense of the natural light. for overhead lighting, three powerful pendants hang from the ceiling.

with concrete flooring and linear positioning of furniture, sound became an issue. pyramidal acoustic foam tile,
the same material used in recording studios, is dropped from the ceiling to absorb the reverberations. for further sound masking,
hanging loudspeakers broadcast music and white noise. the back wall of the office is a white-stained cork surface which becomes
a pin-up board for current projects and images.

elevational view of workspace as it spans the length of the office area image © simon deprez

view from back of the office image © simon deprez

pyramidal acoustic foam on the ceiling has pendant speakers broadcasting music. this idea was the basis for ‘acoustic composition’, a competition entry by the architects. to see the designboom’s coverage of the project, click here. image © simon deprez

open and closed storage units image © simon deprez

view of facade image © simon deprez

floor plan / level 0

elevation

exploded axonometric

nicolas dorval-bory (13)