In 2023, our management announced an internal pitch: To realise a project idea just for us and our team. In the end, however, the winning idea was not to do something for ourselves, but for others – on a pro bono basis. We chose STELP e.V., a non-profit organisation that was already on the look-out for new office space. The initial plan was to provide our planning services for free. This quickly morphed into the idea of donating an entire office interior to STELP e.V., free of charge. Thanks to the fantastic support of our many partners, the organisation moved into a completely donated office in 2024.
Many tasks in not much space
STELP e.V. is a non-profit organisation that supports people in crisis areas and emergency situations. Coordinating aid deliveries is a lot of work. The tasks are varied and the number of people helping is large, but the size of office that the organisation could afford was quite restricted. Our aim was to create a contemporary work environment within a compact space without any financial input from the client.
We could never have afforded this office. The whole thing would have cost almost 100,000 euros. As an NGO, we cannot and do not want to spend that much on such things. We now have an amazingly beautiful office.
Co-co-collage
Our design concept builds on the existing organisation of the building. The entrance through the kitchen became an entrance to a workshop and we put the overall focus on mobility, communication and shared energy. In the office, we retained the closed-off area alongside the old grid ceiling. Together with an open seating area and a meeting island behind a ring-shaped curtain, it provides flexible spaces for communication and collaboration. The latter houses a large table, which can be used to supplement the eight existing workstations with an additional eight temporary workstations when required.
The lounge is the social heart of the space, and the large sofa is big enough for an occasional late-night nap: contemplation core.
The rest of the available space is taken up by two single work cells in the office and a telephone booth in the kitchen. The result is a flexible and dynamic work environment that provides an appropriate and appreciative home for the organisation’s vital voluntary work.
Work on the STELP e.V. office is now complete. But the work of STELP continues. Everyone is welcome to contribute, whether through a small or large donation. Just follow this link.
Thank you!
We could never have realised this project without the generous support of our partners. We’d like to express our gratitude through this short thank-you message and contact links to our partners.
We have long-standing partnerships with many of these companies and individuals, while others came forward at short notice. For example, when we urgently needed someone for the demolition work, our project manager simply called Dany Somo Abbruch, who sent his ‘lads’ straight over. Heinrich Schmid generously donated many hours of drywall, flooring and plumbing work, while Elektro Sever took care of all the electrical work. We have run many joint projects with Apartment91; here they took care of the textiles and floor coverings. Although we were only just getting to know Weichsel78, they spontaneously chose to donate the kitchen carpentry work. Another familiar face is Marina, a former trainee of ours, who carried out the carpentry work in the offices with her company, Zeitwerk Design. The fact that the two carpentry companies travelled all the way to Stuttgart from Lower Saxony and Franconia especially for the project shows just how important it was to them. Our in-house photographer, Philip Kottlorz, kindly donated his time to document this project.
The rooms were impeccably furnished thanks to generous donations in kind from the following companies: COR (stools and chairs), Impact Acoustic (acoustic elements), Kemmler Baustoffe (paint), König+Neurath (desks), Klöber (desk chairs), Lichtwerke (lighting design and luminaires), Menu Space (sofa, seating and side tables), Muuto(seating furniture, a community table and decorative lighting), New Work Office (storage furniture), Object Carpet (carpets), Phyllis (interior greenery), Sonae Arauco (kitchen laminate), Strähle Raumsysteme (doors and focus boxes), Tarkett (PVC kitchen flooring) and XAL (basic lighting).
