Architects Juan Alberto Andrade and María José Váscones have recently completed the interior of an office in Guayaquil, Ecuador, that features a wall of angular windows that pop open. The studio designed the structure for technology services company Mendotel to create a private area for it to host meetings and workspace within an open office.
“The work dynamics were analyzed, getting as a result an office and sales location with different levels of privacy,” explains the studio. “With a reduced space, the reticulated shelf was partitioned with glass divisions from floor to ceiling, which provides solid privacy but allows visual permeability throughout the place, creating a new interior facade.”
The design and functional dynamics in the interior spaces are articulated by the utilitarian furniture that expands from the shelf, a set of fixed tables, storage units and sliding doors that make its purpose more flexible. The materiality, manufacturing methods and construction were devised particularly for the type of execution that the project should achieve.
The materials used are mainly pine wood and colored lacquered wood. The reticulated shelf is made of planked pine wood (19 x 9 cm) with a system of dowels and white glue, in addition to different elements and partitions with OSB boards. The floor is finished with cement and a layer of sealant, the ceiling installations are exposed. The use of colors, shapes and materials has been simplified as an area hierarchy resource: choosing 2020 blue pantone, and curved lines for the service container and white, natural woods, as well as orthogonal lines for the new spatial intervention.
