De Winder Architekten' Converted Factory

German practice De Winder Architekten converted this former machine factory in Hamburg into offices for Carlsen, doing incredibly work to retain traces of its previous industrial use.

Taking advantage of the existing building's high ceilings, they created a large multipurpose hall for gatherings to be the focal point of the new office and filled it with rolling furniture to keep things flexible.

Curtains allow the events space to be separated from a wing of more conventional workspaces, which are organised around a double-height "promenade" that cuts through the centre of the space.

We love a converted warehouse for the obvious aesthetic reasons, but also because there is a poetry to creating work in a building with a tremendous amount of history in housing creation of another type.