OAC Girona, Catalan Government Building, Spanish Office Design, Image

OAC Girona, Catalunya

Catalan Government Office Building design by raichdelrio

9 Nov 2010

OAC Girona

PROJECT FOR THE CITIZEN ATTENTION OFFICE IN GIRONA

Architects: raichdelrio

estudi d’arquitectura. arichtecture & urbanism works. miquel del río & lluís raich

Catalan Government Office Building in Girona

Doing an attention model based on the suppression of barriers between worker and citizen.

Rethinking how to serve the citizen in all the fields: circulations, attention surfaces, computers, waiting areas.

Qualifying the working place and at the same time offering a citizen-friendly space.

OAC MODEL
Facing the diversification of offices in the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan government), the model creates a strong unique image for all the offices.

These offices will have to seek for the citizen contact, calling it to participate in the interior and making its activity visible from the exterior always that it’s possible. It should also be a comfortable space, not impositive that the citizen can understand and appropriate of it easily. Finally it should also avoid the classical separation in the offices between administration and citizen, proposing a common space where administration and citizen are part of a whole.

To solve all this requirements the offices are formalize in 3 conceptual axis:

-Unitary space: space will always be perceived in all his extension eliminating as maximum possible the barriers between citizen and administration (no glass or similar between them) and the jobs will be done in common surfaces (tables and counters)

-Understandable space: use categories (arrival, attention, internal work) related to different furniture (counters, special tables, standard tables) following strict shaping rules work in two different directions: distinguish uses and give a unitary image.

-Citizen seeking space: the offices take maximum profit of the street contact, putting the citizen in the windows. Besides, the elements will be placed with clarity to transmit the adequate image of the administration.

GIRONA PROJECT
We found a space where we couldn’t touch walls, ceiling or floor, a uniform space cold in its formalization but with good spaces and great connection to the exterior.
Giving that and following the model we worked with 3 elements: counters in the entrance area, shaped tables for the working areas and the support of closets to create more comfortable spaces.

To give qualify the space we used vegetation and illumination. Vegetation is attached to closets (comes from up) in the working areas and to furniture in the waiting areas: with that we incorporated color and life in this cold space. Illumination helped us to create other light color spaces and “lowered” the ceiling in the attention areas to give a more intimate ambient.

Color code: The building has a very strict color code (white ceiling and floor, black or white walls) that we wanted to respect yet to bring it to the next step. The furniture goes from a strict white to grey, helping us to recognize the functions with it. Standard furniture (Aero bench and Castore light) where chosen for their abstract and clean lines. All materials are slightly shiny and very abstract to fit the building.
Construction system: all the furniture is lack MDF, constructed in workshop then mounted on site.

Fotografia : Santiago Garcés

Catalan Government Office building images / information from raichdelrio

Citizen Attention Office Girona was shortlisted for the LEAF Awards 2011

LEAF Awards : Shortlisted Buildings + Architects

Location: Girona, Catalunya, Spain, southwestern Europe