Retro fitting

Yaroslav Grant’s Ukrainian design company - Shimma - has just unveiled its latest office design which they claim to be inspired by the industrial plants of the former Soviet Union.

The key challenge was to design an office for four people in only 100 square metres. Three rooms were eventually created the working zone, the lounge and the lobby

Grant managed to secure much of the equipment for the new space from the owners of former industrial plants and used it to (apparently) “lighten up” the space.

Given the scarcity of Soviet era plants in the west, and the brutal reputation of the industrial Soviet model in the past (and even to this day) it seems unlikely that Grant’s new office design is going to be get many imitators, but there is no denying it has made an impression.