Steeped in history, the once empty first-floor premises of the Sigl Brewery Hotel in Obertrum am See are today a hive of thinking, typing and networking. Büro Obertrum is a co-working space bursting with opportunity, which emerged under the motto of “Vacancy as Opportunity”. Those who come here to work, stay – for hours or even days. An inspiring example of how the circular economy can incorporate spatial concepts and working models. Interior and product designer, Barbara Gollackner, sat down with us to discuss the idea of togetherness in the co-working space, the creative use of leftover materials, and what she thinks the future of construction and interiors might look like.
You were involved in developing the spatial concept for Büro Obertrum. What were the challenges in terms of circular thinking and reusing existing spaces and conditions?
We didn’t just adapt existing spaces to create Büro Obertrum, we also used lots of the old furniture from the hotel. Aesthetically speaking, it was definitely a challenge bringing a tangible, visible design concept to the project, despite using this old furniture. I opted for a really striking royal blue because it works really well with the original features, plus it’s a way of setting the stage aesthetically for all the new elements. When it came to the spatial concept, we had to work with what we had. Which left us with only one option – taking out the odd door here and there. The aim was to think really carefully about use and to employ modular, flexible furniture to enable different layouts for modern forms of New Work.
Co-working is often thought of as a short-term concept. How does working at Büro Obertrum differ from ordinary workspaces?
The spatial concept at Büro Obertrum was deliberately designed for dialogue and cooperation. The focus is on flexibility and shared space. An open work lounge and the communal kitchen foster dialogue, while the modular furniture opens up a wide range of uses for the rooms. The focal point is my favourite piece: a large blue desk in the bay window room. It’s a central element, comprised of four individual desks which can be combined to create a large conference table. At Büro Obertrum, you’re right out in nature, right on the lake, and you can celebrate the creative use of an empty space, unlike most co-working spaces which tend to be in city locations.
What do sustainability and circular economy mean for you in terms of working day-to-day with materials?
As a designer, it’s essential that you’re always got one eye on sustainability. That starts with partnering with local businesses on projects and following circular design rules, or even working with existing elements. I’m currently working on a product collection called Rest in Beauty which is about creating products exclusively from leftover materials – a really striking but also really impactful approach in our world of over-production. My Wasteware project was also born from the same idea. I’d read that in Europe we throw away 90 million tonnes of food every year, while at the same time producing around 30 million tonnes of disposable tableware. That gave me the idea to combine these two aspects.
Would the principle of Wasteware be transferable to bigger-scale building projects?
This was a really experimental project which I spent a long time working on by myself. Reusing material waste at scale is becoming increasingly important, though, and is being done ever more frequently – in the car industry, for example, but also with building materials, in interior design. There are lots of concepts and more and more products, and in the near future, we’re going to have to see recycling and reuse as a must, rather than a nice-to-have.
Büro Obertrum
