Veolia's Info Hub is a flexible information and communication space featuring modern facilities for presentations, training sessions, and events.
Veolia's new premises are designed as a representative information base for upcoming investment projects. The Veolia Group is a French international corporation focused on municipal and environmental services, water, energy, and waste management. It has been operating continuously in these sectors in Slovakia since 1993. The new office is located on the tenth floor of the Interpolis Office Center, a new administrative building in Banská Bystrica.
The interior concept utilizes the layout and spatial characteristics of the floor on which it is located. In addition to the freely and fluidly interconnected spaces around the central communication core, it offers unique panoramic views of the city and its natural surroundings. The main motif of the info center's operation is the possibility of visitor movement along a circular route, which has its introduction in the form of an information desk located directly opposite the entrance to the space from the elevators and its culmination in the form of comfortable conference seating, oriented with a view toward the historical center of the city. Between the beginning and the end of the information route, there are thematic interior spots and stations with various functions.
Exhibition panels regarding the company's upcoming investment projects will have a general description on one side and a detailed description with a presentation of details on the other. The visitor thus has the option of a quick information circuit or a route with a more detailed description of the issues. Presentation areas are complemented by other interior elements. An entrance furniture set in the form of lockable storage lockers is designed, as well as furniture for the sale of marketing items, desk furniture intended for training, study, or work, and a seating area serving as a meeting room, television room, or a small cinema. Multi-functional counter furniture, which can also be used for catering, will be located near the final seating area and the kitchenette located in the central core of the building. We sought to keep the artistic impact and interior design in a restrained, even minimalistic form that will not compete with the presentations and will provide them with a simple and non-distracting backdrop.
The basic space of the designed interior was prepared for the new information center in a Shell and Core stage of completion. The visual of the interior ceiling was prescribed uniformly for the entire building in an industrial form with exposed technical HVAC and electrical installations, uniformly finished with white spray paint. We adapted the selection of lighting fixtures to the character of the design. Linear or spot types were adapted to the specific location of their installation and the purpose of their use. The centrally located vertical communication core of the building remains unchanged, and its walls remain in the form of vertically segmented wood paneling. The integrated kitchenette will be equipped with furniture and appliances according to the established higher standard of the interior. Vertical dividing elements of the space are made based on atypical constructions of exhibition partitions, with the possibility of inserting interactive touch or standard screens. The surface of the dividing elements consists of acoustic panels color-finished by spraying to a prescribed color. The final form of the interior is completed by standard seating and table furniture in a higher design and material standard, complemented by high-quality works of art by young Slovak creators.
Authors: Braňo Hovorka, Martin Paulíny
Colaborators: Marek Peťovský, Rado Krajňak
Client: Veolia Energia Slovensko a.s.
Location: Interpolis Office Center, Banská Bystrica
Design, projects: 2024
Contruction: 2025
Photo: Matej Hakár
