The Sting Companies
LIJNDEN
Graziosi Progetti created a beautiful contemporary office for The Sting Companies Sourcing and Production, with plenty of room to grow further.
The Sting Companies is one of the largest privately owned retailers in the Netherlands, with well-known store formulas such as The Sting, Costes and Cotton Club. The company was looking for a larger office building for the rapidly growing TSC Sourcing and Production division, says managing director Ruud Tilroe: “At The Sting Companies we do everything in-house: including transport, photography, building and construction, but also retail, property and interior design. We have been working with Graziosi Progetti for our store interiors for a long time. In 2019, we started The Sting Companies Sourcing and Production – our own sourcing and production branch, in order to also have control over that important part of the product chain. We are located in Lijnden and used to be in a couple of smaller buildings. Because we had grown from 16 to 85 employees, we had to move again.” A large building of a famous car brand was empty in Business Park Lijnden. “It was cramped, without daylight and full of suspended ceilings and thin walls.” Graziosi Progetti was tasked with transforming this building into a suitable office for a fashion company. “Fortunately, Nina and her team gave me the confidence that everything would turn out well. They asked what our wishes were and made these clear through 3D presentations. Then we saw, in phases, how beautiful it could be.”
Shopping streets
Graziosi Progetti arranged the building flexibly, so that it can easily be scaled up. The design makes clever use of the three existing building parts, connected by skylights. Nina Graziosi: “We have created our own departments for the product groups, a kind of ‘stores’, each with their own product showroom and signing.” This gives the skylights the appearance of shopping streets. On the first floor, the building parts are connected by walkways. Tilroe: “From these bridges it seems as if you are looking down on a shopping street, complete with street furniture and lots of greenery.” This lush artificial planting is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. To further enhance the ‘outside’ idea, the facades of two of the three blocks are finished with brick strips. In the garage part, extra windows provide more daylight.
Showrooms
The shopping theme has also been implemented throughout the office interior. Graziosi: “For each department we designed their office with retail elements, such as product displays.” The suspended ceilings have been exchanged for high ceilings with the installations in view, and the floor has oak parquet with Versailles panels. Lightboxes show images from the stores, clothing collections hang between the workstations as sound-absorbing room dividers. “We have also created an area with closed cupboards to archive clothing and fabrics.” This archive zone acts as a buffer between the area for concentrated work and the showroom where you can speak to each other and view the products. “Almost all the furniture is custom-made,” says architect Marc Geers. “All showrooms are designed based on flexible racks and hanging systems that we also use for the stores.” A lot of greenery has also been used in the offices, which contributes to a particularly pleasant appearance.
Cooperation
You experience this appearance as soon as you enter the building, says Tilroe. “You step into a different world.” This naturally includes a warm welcome: near the reception you will find the bar and restaurant, with hot and cold kitchen. The restaurant and bar got a different look & feel than the bright offices. The concrete floor of the skylight continues into the restaurant, the ceiling is dark. A fixed arrangement of benches runs around the walls, with a strip of mirror above them. “So you can see what’s happening around you,” Graziosi explains. Apart from the bar and counters, the furniture in the center of the room is loose, so that events such as fashion shows can take place. But you can also sit there and work with your laptop. “We have put a lot of energy into making people feel comfortable here,” says Tilroe, “you immediately enter a good atmosphere with cool music throughout the building, a beautiful interior and great work spaces, contemporary but also timeless.” The successful result is partly due to project managers Frank Linssen and Dana Vos of The Sting Companies, Construction & Management. An experienced team that has previously created office interiors for The Sting Companies with Graziosi Progetti. “This was a completely new concept for them, fantastic that they did it so quickly. The collaboration with Nina and Marc went excellently, everything just worked.”
Graziosi Progetti created a beautiful contemporary office for The Sting Companies Sourcing and Production, with plenty of room to grow further.
The Sting Companies is one of the largest privately owned retailers in the Netherlands, with well-known store formulas such as The Sting, Costes and Cotton Club. The company was looking for a larger office building for the rapidly growing TSC Sourcing and Production division, says managing director Ruud Tilroe: “At The Sting Companies we do everything in-house: including transport, photography, building and construction, but also retail, property and interior design. We have been working with Graziosi Progetti for our store interiors for a long time. In 2019, we started The Sting Companies Sourcing and Production – our own sourcing and production branch, in order to also have control over that important part of the product chain. We are located in Lijnden and used to be in a couple of smaller buildings. Because we had grown from 16 to 85 employees, we had to move again.” A large building of a famous car brand was empty in Business Park Lijnden. “It was cramped, without daylight and full of suspended ceilings and thin walls.” Graziosi Progetti was tasked with transforming this building into a suitable office for a fashion company. “Fortunately, Nina and her team gave me the confidence that everything would turn out well. They asked what our wishes were and made these clear through 3D presentations. Then we saw, in phases, how beautiful it could be.”
Shopping streets
Graziosi Progetti arranged the building flexibly, so that it can easily be scaled up. The design makes clever use of the three existing building parts, connected by skylights. Nina Graziosi: “We have created our own departments for the product groups, a kind of ‘stores’, each with their own product showroom and signing.” This gives the skylights the appearance of shopping streets. On the first floor, the building parts are connected by walkways. Tilroe: “From these bridges it seems as if you are looking down on a shopping street, complete with street furniture and lots of greenery.” This lush artificial planting is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. To further enhance the ‘outside’ idea, the facades of two of the three blocks are finished with brick strips. In the garage part, extra windows provide more daylight.
Showrooms
The shopping theme has also been implemented throughout the office interior. Graziosi: “For each department we designed their office with retail elements, such as product displays.” The suspended ceilings have been exchanged for high ceilings with the installations in view, and the floor has oak parquet with Versailles panels. Lightboxes show images from the stores, clothing collections hang between the workstations as sound-absorbing room dividers. “We have also created an area with closed cupboards to archive clothing and fabrics.” This archive zone acts as a buffer between the area for concentrated work and the showroom where you can speak to each other and view the products. “Almost all the furniture is custom-made,” says architect Marc Geers. “All showrooms are designed based on flexible racks and hanging systems that we also use for the stores.” A lot of greenery has also been used in the offices, which contributes to a particularly pleasant appearance.
Cooperation
You experience this appearance as soon as you enter the building, says Tilroe. “You step into a different world.” This naturally includes a warm welcome: near the reception you will find the bar and restaurant, with hot and cold kitchen. The restaurant and bar got a different look & feel than the bright offices. The concrete floor of the skylight continues into the restaurant, the ceiling is dark. A fixed arrangement of benches runs around the walls, with a strip of mirror above them. “So you can see what’s happening around you,” Graziosi explains. Apart from the bar and counters, the furniture in the center of the room is loose, so that events such as fashion shows can take place. But you can also sit there and work with your laptop. “We have put a lot of energy into making people feel comfortable here,” says Tilroe, “you immediately enter a good atmosphere with cool music throughout the building, a beautiful interior and great work spaces, contemporary but also timeless.” The successful result is partly due to project managers Frank Linssen and Dana Vos of The Sting Companies, Construction & Management. An experienced team that has previously created office interiors for The Sting Companies with Graziosi Progetti. “This was a completely new concept for them, fantastic that they did it so quickly. The collaboration with Nina and Marc went excellently, everything just worked.”
