ENTORA / Projects / Corten and mirror
Architecture
Corten and mirror
A business centre's park and lobby became the corporate face of the building, with materials chosen to last for years without maintenance.
- Client
- Asset management company
- Year
- 2021
- Cycle
- Concept, engineering, fabrication and installation
- Environment effect
- Shapes impression
A business centre, the headquarters of an asset management company. The park around the building rested on conventional landscaping, with no visual accents: there was nowhere for the eye to settle.
The client came to ENTORA to place pieces in the park. The condition was clear: pieces that needed no maintenance.
Corten among the park's planting
ENTORA proposed Corten steel - simple geometric pieces, which the client approved straight away. The self-patinating alloy forms a protective layer on its own, so the pieces need no maintenance.
Corten and greenery work well together: the warm, rusted patina and the foliage reinforce each other, and both materials are in fact alive - they change with time and with the season. The park stopped being a plain landscaped area and became a considered setting for the building.
Mirror plastic in the lobby
Later, for a seasonal campaign, the client came back to fit out the business centre's lobby. Here we proposed pieces in mirror plastic.
We developed the 3D model and composed the pieces to a tight budget. Mirror plastic on a sturdy support works as a draw: people stop beside the pieces and take photos. Staff spend time there by choice, and the company's visitors read its identity and its attention to detail.
Impact
The park and the lobby became the corporate face of the building
The Corten steel pieces stand in the park without maintenance and hold the grounds together with the planting. The mirror-plastic compositions in the lobby stayed in use for several years running: the lobby turned into an active spot in the building, where staff spend time and visitors read the company's identity.
- Park
- Corten steel, maintenance-free
- Lobby
- mirror plastic
- Lobby in use
- several years
- Phases
- concept, engineering, fabrication and installation
A business park or a residence, and the lobby and grounds need to work without aftercare?
We choose materials and structures that hold up for years in use without a separate budget for maintenance.