FonQ
Utrecht
Somerset Capital Partners commissioned Mulderblauw to design the brand-new distribution centre, showroom and office for the Dutch webshop fonQ. The building has a convenient location at business park Lage Weide in Utrecht, which is known to be one of the best distribution hotspots in the country.
office & showroom
Upon arrival in the showroom, guests are welcomed by the eye-catching new corporate identity of fonQ. The assignment was to embody the spirit of fonQ through the design of the showroom and offices. Moreover, the products fonQ sells had to have a prominent place in the design. The keywords ‘Optimistic’, ‘Inspiring’, ‘Classy’, ‘Playful’, ‘Clear’ and ‘Energizing’ are translated into the design by the use of a vivid colour palette, combined with lots of green and natural materials.
The showroom is located on the ground floor, designed as a stretched space for the exhibition of fonQ’s interior products. In this showroom we added a small greenhouse, that serves as a meeting room. The greenhouse adds an outdoorsy feeling to the space, and creates an open atmosphere in the meeting room. Due to this openness, fonQ employees and customers blend together, so the showroom becomes and ideal space for meeting, discussing and inspiration.
flexible working
The offices can be found on the mezzanine and the first floor. To turn the office into a dynamic space we created informal seating areas, interspersed with workspaces and meeting rooms. Both floors feature an open lounge for informal meetings or to sit back and relax. Besides a number of meeting rooms, the office has various flexible workstations and phonebooths.
On the second and yet highest floor, a canteen with a spacious rooftop terrace is situated. The canteen is designed with a variety of seating areas and a special ‘fun zone’ with foosball, table tennis and air hockey. This fun zone can be transformed into a presentation/lecture area; we added colourful blocks to this space that can be moved around and can be used as a tribune.
The starting point of the architectural design was to connect the hall and the office in a natural way, fitting the casual culture of fonQ.
light and open
With its dark grey plinths, the logistics hall visually conceals the large amount of docks and doors. On top of this plinth, a white metallic facade panel was applied to add brightness to the building. Furthermore, the building was designed with rounded edges. In combination with the bright façade, it has a soft look and feel for a building with such large dimensions.
On the side of the A2 motorway, the office visually pops out of the logistics hall. Due to a setback on the ground floor, a sheltered entrance is created, which provides access to the office spaces and showrooms on the ground floor.
The other side of the building, the side of the Atoomweg, is featured with a glass entrance for employees. Not only does the transparency of the glass add openness to the building, it also forms a shop window for the online department store. The large windows with offset frames and wooden panels give the building a playful character.
project details
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program
406 m² showroom and reception
3,529 m² office
2,646 m² mezzanine
19,930 m² warehouse
26,215 m² GFA -
client
Somerset Capital Partners
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Phase
completed in 2019
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fase
opgeleverd