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Beautyful workspaces, creative thinking, better construction: CSMM wins another design award for its BSH project in Munich

Silicon Valley in Munich-Perlach: having won the Iconic Award 2019, the consultants and architects at CSMM have now won the German Design Award 2020 for the “BSH CO – CREATE | BUILD | TEST” experimental coworking, test and maker space.

Munich, 17 December 2019. In the Munich district of Perlach, in what seems like just an ordinary office building from the outside, is one of the most interesting office environments in Europe: the coworking, test and maker space of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH. In an area covering approximately 600 square metres, around 70 employees work together on the household appliances of the future. The site is an office, workshop and test lab in one and combines the areas of digitisation, research and development. This unique workspace was designed by the consultants and architects at CSMM GmbH in Munich, who use inspiring interior design concepts to showcase the ‘new work’ trend across Europe. CSMM has now received the prestigious German Design Award 2020 for the project’s design and implementation. Just a few weeks earlier, the design gained first prize in the INTERIOR category at the Iconic Awards: Innovative Architecture.

The German Design Award is the Design Council’s top international prize. Its aim is to discover, present and reward unique design trends. This year, more than 5,000 projects were submitted, with over half coming from abroad. The jury met over two days to select the prizewinners in three categories. CSMM not only won for its BSH project in Neuperlach, but this year it also stood on the winners’ podium seven times for five other projects.

The journey to Olympus of architecture wasn’t an easy one. The architectural concept needed to deliver an aesthetic solution, a think tank, a maker space for the development of prototypes and a test lab, all under one roof. To realise this, Debora Kahan, Jie Meng, Michael Winkelharrer and Hannah Winklmann worked together with Reiner Nowak and Abir Zeiler-Aouinti as part of an interdisciplinary team at CSMM.

The client, Robert Gotschy, Vice President Strategic Global Brand Management & Corporate Design Excellence at BSH Group, explained: “We are delighted about this award. It recognises the level of quality and care that CSMM put into the architecture used to develop and convert our needs into an actual space. But for us, it’s not the trophy in the cabinet that is the prize; above all else, it is how our employees and colleagues at BSH appreciate the CO experience and what it means to them. Because only they can make the environment what it was intended for.”

“The basic idea for the BSH CO has its origins in the thought and design processes of Silicon Valley: Light and scalable rooms enable the development of fluent communication. In addition, designers can unleash their creative potential in a variety of functional spaces, such as lounge areas, presentation spaces and so-called maker spaces – entirely in line with the new work concept”, says Reiner Nowak, explaining the design of the think tank. “So that users can adapt the rooms flexibly to their different, project-related needs, we developed prototypes for foldable work tables and a flexible partitioning system for the project in house. What’s more, the spaces were equipped throughout with state-of-the-art media technology, enabling purely digitally networked working.”

The virtual reality technology used on site is a particular highlight: those testing the user experience can literally immerse themselves in the household appliances, such as washing machines, refrigerators, etc., using virtual reality glasses and thus become part of the development process at BSH Hausgeräte GmbH. "This reinterpretation of the user experience allows customers to test products directly on site and to turn their purchasing decision into an experience,” Nowak explained. The jury at the German Design Awards considers the implementation to have been more than successful and justified the awarding of first prize by saying: "The concept combines a think tank, maker space and test lab into a single area, which can be used dynamically and flexibly thanks to movable partitions and mobile office furniture. At the same time, the deliberately informal design creates a relaxed atmosphere in which creative thought processes and cooperative work can unfold freely."

“By working with the CSMM firm of architects, we have succeeded in creating an agile space for the BSH Group that exceeds our expectations. The atmosphere created by Ms Zeiler-Aouinti changes our collaborative working in a positive and inspiring way, as well as the quality of our results and the speed of our development. The feedback from designers, developers and marketeers, right up to management level, as well as our capacity utilisation figures, all speak for themselves,” said Robert Gotschy, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH Vice President, Head of Global Brand, Regional- Tactical- & OEM Brand, & Corporate Design Excellence.