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.

The only substantial alteration to the structure’s original architecture can be found between the two lower-most levels: A two-storey atrium and staircase serves as the main hub of communication for the new SoundCloud universe. Versatile to the core, both space and fittings can adapt according to requirement.

At the same time sound (or acoustics) remain the red thread of the overall design concept. A vital aspect of any space, due to its functional, work-related and identity-defining significance: Once again, KINZO experiments with further and playful uses to make the most of acoustic materials. Imbued with new life and meaning, they might resurface as cladding for the specially designed drop lights (“Krautleuchten”) or as abstracted sound waves and light diffusors nesting underneath the ceilings of shared spaces.