Pierre Marcolini, Brussels Project

New offices for Maison Pierre Marcolini

Pierre Marcolini is active in the creation, production and distribution of top-of-the-range chocolates, pastries, confectionery and ice creams. A leader in the luxury chocolate market, this House enjoys international recognition and a strong brand image. Marcolini is also committed to sustainable chocolate.

Maison Pierre Marcolini Marcolini is relocating its offices (initially in two separate buildings) to a newly acquired building right next to the existing one. The aim was to bring all the staff together under one roof, to create an overall concept for the company as a whole, and to bring production and administration activities together on a single site.

With this in mind, we were invited to analyse and study:

• The requirements of the factory, R&D, office and lunch areas and the garden, and to translate them into micro plans and execution.
• Creating a unique design for these new spaces.
• Imagining a new façade for the building.

In the first phase of the project, we focused on:

• The office spaces and the lunch area, which we wanted to approach as the Marcolini ‘café’ (including site supervision, overall supervision of custom-made furniture, supervision of the execution of the interior fittings, coordination in bouwteam with the general contractor and its engineers).
• A new façade for the building.

To create and implement an effective way of working, we first developed and defined a vision that would be shared by shareholders, department heads and employees. Secondly, we created physical environments that were in line with each other and in harmony with the vision, values, culture, business needs and market requirements of the company.

With this project for Maison Pierre Marcolini, the ambition of Out Of Office is to ensure that every employee feels inspired, supported and at home. That every employee feels connected to the others and to what the company is now and will be in the future. With the aim of supporting growth, production, team collaboration, pride of belonging and involvement of everyone within the group.

The way of working and the design envisioned for this project will:

• Reflect the company’s strategy, values and heritage.
• Create an energizing, flexible, sustainable and future-proof working environment.
• Respect the needs of each employee who work on an activity-based basis (everyone chooses their workplace according to the tasks they have to perform or their needs).
• Connect people, expertise and talent throughout the company.
• Support the best possible work organization (inclusion and diversity).
• Retaining and attracting expertise and high potentials.

The identity of the project originates directly from the strong graphic identity of Maison Marcolini. Materials were sourced with sustainability in mind, and the made to measure furniture can be dismantled and reused.

The offices consist of semi-open and closed spaces using atypical partitions. The aim is to bring the workspace down to a human scale, where people are happy to work.

Like Marcolini’s pralines, the work environment is essentially classic and authentic, with minimalist, elegant materials and an element that is omnipresent, a touch of ‘pep’. The color scheme is two-tone, with wood, wicker, leather in various shades of white and beige, in line with Marcolini’s graphic identity.

The Café Marcolini will hopefully become a place for all employees, to meet up and/or to work together, a multi-purpose space. The interior is quite basic, with lots of authentic materials, such as tiles, concrete and wood. The central feature is a delightful bar, situated right at the entrance to welcome, invite or pick up employees at the front door.

In collaboration with ACI SPACE DESIGN GROUPE as general contractor.