Think “office building” and something pretty mundane may come to mind: a high-rise structure, for example, hosting tiny cubicle after cubicle fitted with grey, uninspiring décor - scant motivation for getting through the daily grind. However, the following ten workspaces are that little bit different: not only are they tucked away underground - sometimes deep below the surface - but their inspirational architecture may also provide the groundwork for offices of the future.
The other benefits of such unusual locations are clear: underground offices afford privacy and security while in some cases also offering sanctuary from even the severest of elemental forces. The earth naturally insulates the workspaces, and since they tend to be removed from the hustle and bustle of big cities, they’re often more serene places in which to conduct business. Here, then, are ten amazing subterranean offices from around the world.
10. Studio D’archetittura - Genoa, Italy
In 2013 Carlo Bagliani totally remodelled a former underground parking garage, turning it into a stunning contemporary architectural studio. In fact, Bagliani was part of the building’s original design team - Italy’s sp10 - in the mid-2000s and then only took over the structure after that firm shut down. Located a short trip from the centre of Genoa, the remarkable office now features all that an architect needs to conduct business, with spaces for meetings and work, an archive and bathrooms. And despite its position in the earth, the 3,282-square-foot workplace is as stylish as any more conventional office setting, with sleek black matte walls offset by white furnishings. Furthermore, light streams in through openings in the ceiling and the sunken patio-facing side of the office, helping to create a comfortable environment for productivity.
9. Springfield Underground - Springfield, Missouri, USA
Springfield Underground in Missouri started operating its storage business in the early 1960s and is safely situated 100 feet down in a site that is also home to a limestone mine. The commercial property spans in excess of 55 acres below ground and contains custom-built spaces to suit the needs of its clients. The surrounding rock keeps the temperature cool and almost constant, making it the perfect place for companies such as Kraft Foods, which stores some of its inventory here. In addition, the subterranean roads mean that distribution vehicles can navigate the facility with ease, without having to worry about inclement weather up above. And because of its location, Springfield Underground provides a naturally secure environment for those working there.
8. American Underground @American Tobacco - Durham, North Carolina, USA
Fun as well as business is the name of the game at this American Underground office. Located below ground at the American Tobacco Historic District in Durham, North Carolina, the more than 26,000-square-foot co-working space was opened in 2010 following redevelopment work undertaken with the help of local firms Belk Architecture, Duda Paine and The Freelon Group. The basement-level office now provides a fully equipped setting for mid-sized start-ups in need of affordable rent and top-notch amenities. Budding entrepreneurs can impress potential clients in one of a trio of conference rooms boasting sleek TVs and white boards and can also take part in accelerator programs. Then when the time comes to decompress, the facility has ample breakout spaces and a number of old-school pinball machines and arcade games.
7. Iron Mountain - Western Pennsylvania, USA
Iron Mountain’s National Data Centre in Western Pennsylvania is snugly set within a disused mine an incredible 220 feet underground. Iron Mountain first came into possession of the site - which is additionally a former nuclear bunker - in 1998. Today, the sprawling 145-plus acres of space on hand easily allows for the storage of a mix of electronic and physical media, while the firm also offers design and management options for interested data centres. Appropriately known as The Underground, the unusual complex gives clients security and peace of mind, with its location lending protection from the harshest of nature’s forces and keeping valuable information safely below layers of limestone. Furthermore, the facility is energy efficient, boasting a geothermal cooling system and a suitably moderate temperature.
6. City Cleaning Facilities - Copenhagen, Denmark
The historic shopping thoroughfare that is Købmagergade hadn’t been majorly altered for three decades before a pair of architectural firms - the Dutch Karres en Brands and Denmark’s Polyform - won the bid to redesign the Copenhagen street in 2008. One of their tasks was to create a permanent, centrally located space for the City Cleaning Facilities, and the two firms developed the novel proposal of constructing it underground. The architects designed offices, changing areas, showering facilities, a refectory and more around a subterranean courtyard, taking advantage of a plot that was previously used for parking. The result: light filters in from above for the office’s around 100 users, while the recessed garden with its ample foliage provides a quiet sanctuary amid the hustle and bustle of the busy Danish capital.
5. FIFA Headquarters - Zurich, Switzerland
Though three aluminium-covered stories of FIFA’s headquarters are above ground, it’s what’s underneath that matters most. Conceived by Swiss architectural maestro Tilla Theus for the international soccer organization, the sleek granite building features five levels that lie underground, facilitating a good measure of privacy for some important decisions. The complex - which opened in Zurich, Switzerland’s biggest city, in 2007 - contains subterranean space in which to hold conferences, as well as archives, a parking garage, a prayer room and state-of-the-art technology. The headquarters’ unusual location certainly makes sense to FIFA president Joseph Blatter, who has said, “Places where people make decisions should only contain indirect light, because the light should come from the people themselves who are assembled there.”
4. Antinori Winery - Bargino, Italy
In 2012 construction finished on the spectacular Antinori Winery in provincial Florence, Italy, with the project having been realized over seven years, at an estimated cost of more than US$82 million. International firm Archea Associati - which designed the 540,000-square-foot space - said of its creation: “The physical and intellectual construction of the winery pivots on the profound and deep-rooted ties with the land, a relationship which is so intense and suffered as to make the architectural image conceal itself and blend into it.” The lower levels of the winery are for making the product and letting it mature, and they benefit from the natural insulation and temperature control of the surrounding earth. Meanwhile, the headquarters’ upper floors showcase a slew of attractions for visitors, including wine-tasting and museum areas, a shopping section, a library and an eating spot.
3. SelgasCano Architecture Office - Madrid, Spain
Husband-and-wife team José Selgas and Lucía Cano of Spanish architectural firm SelgasCano put their design skills into inspired action to create their own stylish office in Madrid. The SelgasCano Architecture Office’s space was developed with one underlying goal in mind: to work with trees overhead. As Selgas has explained, “We think nature should take precedence over architecture.” Hence, the sensitively designed one-level structure is mostly below ground, save for a long, curved north-facing acrylic window that supplies natural light to the architects hard at it inside. At the same time, a polyester and fiberglass shield offers shade from intrusive sunlight, while an ingenious system of pulleys linked with a hinged aperture acts as an environmentally friendly means of ventilation. Bookshelves also line the tunnel-shaped, brightly decorated workplace.
2. dPOP! Offices - Detroit, Michigan, USA
Once known as the Dime Building, Detroit’s Chrysler House has had a bank vault on its basement floor for over a century. Now that vault is a conference room, with the original heavy-duty vault door opening out to reveal a space that retains old, worn walls alongside touches of opulence - think diamond-light chandeliers. In fact, the entire basement level was carefully renovated prior to its reopening in 2013 as the home of dPOP! - a company that, appropriately enough, designs inspiring workspaces. This particular in-house design also incorporated found elements from the previously dilapidated underground space. And dPOP! CEO Melissa Price believes that the unlikely office helps reflect how the firm does business, having stated, “When you look at our spaces, you can see that our work is intense and our play is intense.”
1. Bahnhof - Stockholm, Sweden
Bahnhof - which is among Sweden’s largest internet service providers - keeps data incredibly safe thanks to its presence within a former military bunker. The site’s location beneath nearly 100 feet of solid granite in the centre of Stockholm undoubtedly provides peace of mind for the firm’s clients, which at one time included WikiLeaks. The space was totally revamped from 2007 to 2008 but still bears traces of its previous life, boasting close to 16-inch-thick access doors and enough protection to withstand the force of a nuclear bomb. Even so, local firm Albert France-Lanord (A)rchitects seemingly designed the space to be enticing rather than intimidating, for it is also home to greenhouses, water features, a fish tank that can hold close to an impressive 687 gallons and simulated daylight. Another of the quirky touches here is a conference room that lets employees play at being Neil Armstrong, as its flooring has been decked out to resemble the Moon’s surface.
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