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DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Press Glass Headquarters by Tomasz Konior Is Granted the Golden A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design

Tomasz Konior honored for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Press Glass Headquarters by Tomasz Konior, designed for Konior Studio, has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category. The result belongs to the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the Golden A' Design Award Means

The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.

Regarding Press Glass Headquarters

Press Glass is an office headquarters building set on a green plateau in Konopiska, Poland. The ground floor plan is an equilateral triangle with a span of 80 metres and encloses an inner courtyard. Offices are placed along the outer facade, while relaxation and open space zones surround the courtyard, so each workplace receives daylight and views of the landscape. Concrete, steel and glass form the structure, and prestressed concrete allows wide spans. Fan-shaped terraces and natural colours blend the building into the surrounding land.

About Tomasz Konior

Tomasz Mikołaj Konior (born 1968) architect. Graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Cracow University of Technology. In 2019 he defended his doctoral thesis entitled Evolution of public space in buildings for music. Since 1995 he has been running his own architectural office Konior Studio. Author or co-author of public buildings, including the seat of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the Music School Complex in Warsaw, the extension of the National Library in Warsaw and the Brno Philharmonic. He is a member of the Polish Chamber of Architects and the Association of Polish Architects SARP.

Award Record

Tomasz Konior is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.

About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award

The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Typical entries include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. The awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Press Glass Headquarters
Function
Headquarters
Category
Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Discipline
Spatial Design
Industry
Architecture
Colors
Dark Slate Gray, Dark Gray, Dark Olive Green, Black and Silver
Images
5
Client
Konior Studio

The Recognition

Laureate
Tomasz Konior
Country
Poland
Recognition
Golden A' Design Award
Edition
2020 - 2021
Design ID
#124561

Credits

Team
Tomasz Konior, Marcin Piotrowski, Dominik Koroś, Angelika Drozd, Maria Green, Wojciech Przywecki, Paweł Jurkiewicz, Diana Niebrzydowska, Paweł Przeniosło, Jakub Bojas, Paweł Jurkiewicz
Image Credits
Photographer Nate Cook, Press Glass, 2020

Design Details

Unique Properties
The headquarters of the companies are usually established in city centers or at important communication junctions. However, the goal was to design a modern headquarters on a green plateau. A narrow plot cut by a stream, with a valuable tree and a view of the golf course was an inspiration to create a shape on a triangular plan. The storeys differ in size, adding dynamics and ease to the entire structure. Soft, horizontal lines and natural colors have integrated it with the landscape.
Inspiration
The natural landscape and the view to the horizon are rarely associated with office buildings. Due to investor's decision, the former wastelands on the edge of the Krakow-Czestochowa Upland have been transformed into a golf course. Now this unlimited space has been enriched with next stage - Press Glass Headquarters. The investor's ambition was to create a headquarters that would express the dynamic nature of the company and at the same time to provide employees contact with nature.
Research
The main idea is based on a figure three. The facility consists of three spaces: the landscape, the building and the courtyard. The triangular shape reduces the scale of the building and the fan-shaped terraces blends it into the landscape. The division into three storeys corresponds to their functions. The ground floor is the public zone, the first floor is the operational and the second floor is the management. The entire structure is logically connected by three communication cores.
Challenge
A cooperation between the architect and the investor was conscious from the very beginning. The number three turned out to be crucial here as we strove to meet the needs of employees in the context of body, mind and spirit. Starting with the use of pro-ecological technologies and ending with numerous analyzes of work comfort, ergonomics and the proportions of rooms. As a result, an environmentally friendly building with a high quality of work and relax space has been achieved.
Realization and Technology
Concrete, steel and glass materialize the vision in space. Concrete as the main construction material in the prestressed concrete technology allowed to obtain above-standard spans. The edges of the terraces and balustrades are made of individually designed metal modules. However, the most important element is glass. Enormous, flat and rounded panes of the highest technical parameters, perversely mark the boundary of the interior, opening it to the surroundings.
Operation and Interaction
The design has a clear principle to locate offices along the external facade, while the relax and open space zones would be placed around the inner courtyard. Thanks to this, each place for quiet individual work takes full advantage of the natural surroundings and light. The central part of the building with the natural garden in the patio becomes a public square that integrates all employees.
Project Duration and Location
The project started in 2017, construction started in 2019 and finished in October 2020 in Konopiska, Poland.
Specifications
The outline of the ground floor is an equilateral triangle with a span of 80 m. The inner, triangular courtyard has a side length of 26 m. Usable floor area: 5398 m2 Total area: 9982.8 m2 Area of the plot: 29189 m2 Building area: 2943 m2 Investor: Press Glass SA
Keywords
Architecture, office building, headquarters, nature, landscape, human, workspace, wood, glass, metal, concrete, design, interior design, triangle, green roof, Poland, sustainable development, eko, green building, koniorstudio, pressglass

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