KINZO ARCHITECTS DESIGN THE NEW SOUNDCLOUD HEADQUARTER IN BERLIN

The new headquarters of internationally renowned online platform SoundCloud cover three levels and  approx. 4,000 square metres of an old brewery building close to the former Berlin Wall. The complex, designed to serve as a future incubator for up-and-coming start-ups, will become the one-stop office for all 180 Berlin employees of the foremost hub for musical exchange on the net. Anticipating future expansion of the rapidly growing SoundCloud platform, the spacious offices could potentially accommodate up to 350 desks. To provide the company and its new HQ with a matching spatial identity and the right architectural framework for the platform’s novel business and working structures, SoundCloud asked KINZO to turn its new hub into a space that exudes and encourages innovation and creativity. The platform envisaged a welcome beaconin Berlin’s office landscape that both shapes the company and evolves with SoundCloud over the years. Against this background, KINZO’s conversion redefines the rules of office design with its tangible reflection of a virtual community. While KINZO’s design interventions retain the former factory’s industrial charm, they also emphasise the  location’s characteristics to create just the right space for such a young and expanding business. 

 

From open work spaces and café-meets-reception area to various themed rooms – each space at the newSoundCloud HQ promotes flexible use scenarios and the platform’s ingrained culture of constant creative exchange. Thanks to subtle accents and interventions, introduced according to need, the mood shifts from urban exchange to private retreat, from bustling public space to cosy living room.