Transforming Workspaces: The Vision Behind Business Garden Vilnius

In the age of hybrid working, it’s encouraging to see how a multitude of insights and influences have revitalised attitudes and ways of working. Many are evident in the accelerated evolution of designed interiors seeking to create more conscious and sustainable workplace environments.

Inspired by lifestyle, ‘home from home’ aesthetics, and the more informal backdrop of remote working experiences, it is liberating to see today’s workplaces evolving into more spirited future-facing working experiences in response to a dwindling reluctance for being in traditional offices and outdated corporate notions of productivity.

Despite shifts away from physical to knowledge-based working, many companies still prioritise quantity over quality, not investing in workplace environments compromising levels of wellbeing for many employees. Performance and well-being lie not in how much work we DO, but in the quality of How, Where and When we work.  Interior Architecture has a fundamental responsibility to create relevant, and engaging environments where users will feel ‘at home’ to optimise a mix of skills: learning, complex thinking, communication, creativity, concentration, decision-making, presenting…all with enriching and fruitful outcomes.

Building upon our client Vastint’s ‘Business Garden’ brand concept, Turnerbates have designed and further developed the expanding their network of ‘work campuses’ in multiple countries across Europe. Created with the International Real Estate Developer, no two Business Gardens are the same – each offers a unique and innovative concept solution to the outdated workplace. There is no singular repeat blueprint for designs in different cities or countries. They have similar component parts but the interior architectural space is all treated differently.

Spatial arrangements and surface treatments are distinct and customised to express each cities’ individual character, whether through the use of custom graphics or local materials or material processes. The Lounge is uniquely tailored to every location, allowing the culture of the country to inform the designs. Each is a response to their location to express a local narrative through the design, materials used, skills and finishing processes available.

Informed through participation with users and community,

Like a garden or landscape, each can evolve to flourish in time.

Not static, but maintaining and nurturing sustainable growth with time.

The ‘digital’ of business and the ‘nature’ of a garden in balance.

Technology fused with the organic expressed through the surface pattern and of materials and their inherent form and textures.

Here, we spotlight the Business Garden in Vilnius, Lithuania, which sets the curve for a vibrant work experience.

This Business Garden utilises a large area of 42,000 m² with innovative results – the ground floor area includes the Forum: a coffee shop, canteen, events space, bar and restaurant, and social areas for tenants and visitors. The Lounge sits within these vibrant amenities as a welcome alternative to the traditional work environment. Membership enables access to local facilities and beyond to other cities or countries.

Multi-functional spaces create a mix of relaxed areas that encourage tenants and users to adopt use of differing spaces to enhance and compliment different tasks. These spaces offer and allow for people to be together, enabling users to collaborate, socialise, or work more privately. Every Lounge has flexible zones suited to different ways of working. Tenants can book meetings in the cosy snug, brainstorm in the project room, take calls in the private phone booths, attend conferences or simply relax in the social space.

Drawing on our experience and expertise designing successful social and commercial projects, we have honed our skills to effect creating The Lounge and Forum spaces for complimentary agile working for both focus or pause, ‘switch off’ and relax.

This revitalisation of these multi- connected working facilities fuse lifestyle luxuries with collaborative and social features that are inspired by the hospitality design of hotels and venues. The influence of lobbies, check-ins, bars, lounges and auditoriums all contribute to blurring the boundaries between varying hybrid spaces within the Lounge and Forum.

Effectively designed interiors, surfaces and materials specified, placement of furniture, lighting and objects all contribute to creating visual and meaningful prompts that elevate wellbeing and mindset.

We value and consider in much detail what contributes and creates meaningful spaces to empower users, knowledge and growth. To encourage dynamics and various mind flow states to dial up or down around working hours. A place where you want to be – where it doesn’t necessarily feel like you’re at work!

The integrated use of classic, natural materials like timber, glass, stone, metal bring durability and an open honesty spatially.

The materials used are attainable locally – familiar and authentic to express the architectural envelope. They display a reassuring foundation that will patina well with use in the same way that our homes feel lived in.

Their inherent qualities elevate and achieve the desired ambience by utilising various surface processes and profiles, surface finishes and textures. Profiled Timber claddings; natural and painted. Reeded and diffused glass refracting natural & artificial lighting atmospheres.

Contrastingly, the use of innovative Sustainable materials like the Richlite, Foresso and LVT Flooring all have high recycled content and circularity in their material process.

Acknowledging issues in construction and beyond of the growing waste economy, each of these raw material waste components ie; recycled paper; timber offcuts & sawdust and recycled rubbers from old sports trainers bring an alternative non precious, re-use dynamic juxtaposed with the precision of other materials.

References to the analogue and digital processes. Recycled paper reused for surfaces around a Library and counters.

The recognisable random pattern of raw timber chips to surfaces and claddings seen between the rigidity of formed frameworks.

Recycled rubber floor from old trainers expresses agile hybrid working as a sport! Basketball in the case of Vilnius where they are pretty competent as nation.

We believe the impact of the spaces to users lies in the creative use and application of relevant materials in unity together.

The design vision and strategy, operational and building performance requirements for Business Garden, Vilnius are all considered and defined with sustainability at the forefront.

Business Garden Vilnius has been internationally appraised for sustainability solutions using smart systems. It is one of only 10 buildings in Europe that have received the remarkable achievement of attaining 95 points within the framework of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and securing the highest level of ‘Platinum’ status.

Only 30 building structures across the world have been accredited with Platinum status and this is the first newly constructed office building within the Baltic region to achieve this milestone and a leading example for the broader landscape of European construction and real estate development.

The Business Garden, Vilnius complex is grounded within one of the greenest landscaped areas of the city, and is considered a holistic, healthy working environment surrounded by nature. Uniquely, the area is bordered by a 10-hectare urban forest. Trees were preserved on the original grounds, and more planted into the forest.

The work campus includes a variety of amenities for sports. In addition to a basketball court and ping-pong tables, also offers its tenants an outdoor volleyball court to help people stay energised. You can work outdoors at Business Garden and enjoy some fresh air on a bench in the park, move inside for a round of negotiations, or a work meeting in a Brunch Garden restaurant.

Each option is appealingly different, and smart.

These days, agile working and hybrid work environments often revolve around just combining work in the office with working from home. The Business Garden has expanded this definition conveying that hybrid work environments can be offered and evolved further. Today, employees are searching for new ways to work and exploring their efficiency and creativity.

Here, comfortable working is not solely for employees of the tenant companies but also for the benefit of those local tenant communities who might not have representational spaces and additional facilities for a seminar, lecture, small conference, or an informal party in their rented office.

Together with Vastint, turnerbates hopes to have demonstrated a distinct commitment to the environment, evident down to the last detail of the design.

In addition to the 4 completed Lounges in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, the turnerbates studio is proud to currently be involved developing other Lounge concepts across Europe, in Marseille, Amsterdam, London and Milan.

It’s rewarding to be see how this transformative approach developing Business Garden Vilnius, has influenced and made a difference to everyday work and life. To see the value that a sensitive design brief and strategy, integration of sustainable materials and ethical building practice can affect better agile working practice, ethics, and have lasting positive change on health and wellbeing in these community focussed hybrid environments.