Working in the engine shed

For decades, the engine shed on the roadside behind the Mannheim train station (Germany) was locked and abandoned. An industrial building from 1870 in a heritage-protected slumber – ready to be kissed awake.

Where three locomotives used to stand next to each other to be serviced, there is now space for two innovative companies. Workplaces and meeting zones were organized as an open workspace and harmoniously embedded in the industrial environment.

The arched windows with steel bars, the filigree wooden structure, the forging furnace, the extraction systems, and the industrial lights are elements that were deliberately kept and combined with the new.

In order not to disturb the modern and elegant impression of the workspace with files or office supplies, these are stored in cabinets and sideboards. The flush fronts slide on top of each other when opened and thus take up less space than hinged doors. This is made possible by the Hawa Frontino 20 hardware, the running and guide tracks of which are screwed onto the top of the wooden door.