TBC Forum by UNStudio is a financial centre under construction in the hills above Tbilisi, Georgia, that aims to be a more positive working environment than traditional bank headquarters.
The Dutch studio broke ground on the new headquarters for TBC Bank last month. Based on workplace studies they have carried out, UNStudio have designed the office to be an inversion of traditionally siloed and private banking headquarters.
"The design for the new TBC Forum proposes a transition from the traditional closed and introverted working model previously favoured in the banking industry, toÂward a flexible, open and responsive system," said UNStudio.
Departments will be clustered together around double and triple height communal spaces, and different kinds of working arrangements such as shared desks and break out spaces.
TBC Forum will comprise of three main areas, with the TBC Bank headquarters located in the tallest three buildings clustered together.
An Innovation Lab for research will be at the foot of the headquarters, then across a wide plaza the Culture Hub will provide the public elements of the scheme, housing galleries, restaurants, a childcare centre, and a co-working space.
Green roofs will be a place for employees and visitors to relax, as well as providing the bank with open air venues for events.
The form of the buildings, with their different heights and rooftop terraces, echoes the profile of the stone and mortar buildings that make up the historic highland village of Shatili, in Upper Khevsureti, said the studio.
Located by the Lisi Lake resort, UNStudio said it hoped the TBC Centre will become an "integrated part" of local people's journeys between the Georgian capital and the green hills and vineyards that surround it.
Tbilisi recently hosted its first ever architecture biennial event, where architects from around the world came to discuss the potentials and pitfalls facing the architecture sector in Georgia.
Imagery is by Luxigon and Aand3.
Project credits:
UNStudio: Ben van Berkel with Frans van Vuure, Roman Kristesiashvili, Alex Kalachev, Filippo Lodi, Melinda Matuz, Raul Forsoni, Pere Maicas, Franck Fdida, Michele de Simone, Caterina Micucci , Matthew Harrison, Assaf Yizzak Cooremans, Nanang Santoso, Harlen Miller, Megan Hurford, Johanna Mencia, Fernando Herrera, Attilio Ranieri, Courtney Jones, Jae Geun Ahn, Elizabeth White, Ksymena Borczynska, Gys le Roux, Jung Jae Suh
Project Manager: CMC
AoR: Artstudio
Structural advisor: Cubicon
MEP Advisor: EE-Georgia
Landscape designer: Loos van Vliet
Lighting designer: Lighting Design Collective
Facade consultant: Priedemann
Road and circulation advisor: Gzajvaredini XXI