Pallet Office by MOST Architecture

Spatial design

In the heart of Amsterdam lies the office of Brandbase whose employees have temporarily found themselves in a sea of wooden pallets.

By Cassandra Pizzey / 21-10-2010

When advertising agency Brandbase required a new and temporary solution for their office on the Brouwersgracht in Amsterdam, MOST Architecture were commissioned to produce an inventive concept.

The main mission for MOST was to come up with an interior made from an original material of which multiples could be used. This demanded a back-to-front design process, taking the material as a starting point instead of the space itself. “After experimenting with cardboard tubes, archive boxes and empty bottles we had nearly given up hope,” says Paul Geurts from MOST. “And then came the Euro pallets.”

The MOST team researched the material, deciding what grade of pallets to use, how to connect them and, of course, how they could be used to furnish an office. “The highest grade of pallets was chosen for the interior, as they show only little wear and can be re-used for transportation when the current interior is taken out,” explains Geurts. The various pallets are piled and stacked to form desks, stairs and seating areas with pinewood blocks added here and there to stabilize the structures. To ensure employees don’t leave work with splinters each day, the pallets have been sanded down with glass tops added on the work desks.

The interior space is divided into four main areas which have been painted white to create a homogenous backdrop for the wooden pallets. The entrance, furnished with two long desks made from pallets lining the walls, leads to a staircase made from the same material. “Visitors have to pass between the desks when they enter the building, just like parading on a catwalk,” says Geurts. Upstairs, the pallets are transformed into various shaped desks stacked almost to the ceiling, and even provide seating for visitors to the office. One office has been left devoid of the wooden structures, here the main feature is a network of black cables, reminiscent of liana vines.

In total, 270 wooden pallets were used to create the various landscapes in the office, causing some confusion with suppliers to the Brouwersgracht. “Some of the lorry drivers and passers-by would question why we needed so many pallets in the centre of town.” During the construction, curious people could follow the progress online at Brandbase’s website.

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