For Kvistad, designing a workspace for international digital creative studio Bakken & Bæck was an exercise in sculpting space through colour. The Oslo headquarters is strongly divided through the use of hue, as the walls, ceiling, floor and furniture in different spaces have been entirely flooded in distinctive palettes. The designers wanted to create the impression that the interior had been cast in the same material or 3D printed in its entirety.
The most utilized colour throughout is a soft powder blue that creates a palpable airiness in the meeting rooms, social areas, hallways and corridors. The monochrome is not monotonous however, as Kvistad punctuates the space with natural material details such as raw clay plant pots, verdant greenery and lengths of unpainted wood in chair legs and table surfaces, as well as with occasional variations in tint and shade. The overall effect signals the Scandinavian heritage of the studio, updated with an unmistakably contemporary chic.
Elsewhere in the Bakken & Bæck HQ, private spaces such as the cloakroom and bathroom blush with a warm rose-pink from ceiling to floor, while pale gold in a meeting room gently keeps out the blue beyond the glass. A sitting nook endearingly named The Sauna offers a comfortable space for relaxation but also rejuvenation within the cushioned alcove of energy-giving red. In characterizing the function of diverse areas through colour, Kvistad develops a unique spatial character for Bakken & Bæck.
Pale gold delineates the meeting room from rest of the workspace, signalling a shift in interaction and behaviour.
The pillows and cushions in ‘The Sauna’ were designed and handmade by Kvistad.
