Comprising video editors and designers, Dynamic Frame’s office supports the specific needs of its tech-savvy employees without compromising on a social atmosphere.

Key features

Previously split between two buildings in Zürich, Swiss film production company Dynamic Frame decided to combine its fiction and documentary department with its commercial one and house them under the same roof. The company looked to Balbek Bureau to develop a multifunctional workplace on the ground floor of a building in the city’s trendy Binz district.

Balbek Bureau chose to leave the existing building’s concrete structure exposed, emphasizing its distinctive slanted columns and closely spaced beams. Within this large, open space, rooms are defined using enclosed, cube-like forms. Each room accommodates an activity requiring specific visual or acoustic conditions. The editing rooms, for example, incorporate glass blocks and curtains, giving employees control over how much light enters their workspace. In environments where sound regulation is necessary, like the meeting room, perforated chipboard cladding helps improve acoustics while limiting unwanted noise. The cinema space, which is used to show in-progress work to clients, incorporates soft, yellow seats and is entirely covered in dark grey carpet.

Employees in need of a more social and collaborative atmosphere can meet in the open lounge area, recognizable from its timber floor and tiered seating structure. Made of modular timber units that double as bookshelves, this flexible auditorium can take on various informal uses as office needs change. A custom galvanized steel cloakroom, designed to resemble a traditional ticket office, can be unfolded when needed and, together with the spacious kitchen, support parties and other social events.

FRAME’s take

While many offices today are turning to agile floorplans to support employees’ myriad, fluctuating needs, Dynamic Frame embraces flexibility without compromising the very specific needs of the creatives for whom they are designing. Made up almost entirely of video editors and designers, the company necessitates an office that can support specialized technical functions while accommodating the more irregular – and sometimes chaotic – facets of creative production. In keeping the technical and specific aspects of the office contained to individual ‘boxes’, Balbek Bureau ensures that the office remains an open, responsive and social environment, where co-workers can connect, collaborate and, most importantly, get their creative juices flowing.