Rakuten
Overview
Rakuten, Inc. is a Japanese electronic commerce and online retailing company based in Tokyo. It was founded in 1997 by Japanese businessman Hiroshi Mikitani. Rakuten took the opportunity to update their office space whilst all staff worked from home. Their offices are located in a distinctive style building in the heart of Belfast City. CCI had the opportunity to use the natural fabric of the building and restore the existing interior bringing it back up to its former glory.
Challenge
The Rakuten team felt they needed an update to their existing offices. They wanted to use modern furniture to create extra usable space. The team also wanted to use the natural light within the space and compliment the interior with glass, timber and steel framed industrial partitioning systems within the natural framework of the workplace. CCI were able to blend the new with the old and create a unique work space. The Rakuten team also required the removal of their old furniture and disposal as part of the project.
Solution
The old warehouse style building allowed the perfect back drop for quite a dramatic interior. The building boasts some stunning interior steel work inter-grated alongside the redbrick external facade and rolling windows. The whole of the space had a historic wooden floor which the CCI team were keen to keep. We sanded down the years of grime and were able to stain the floor and lacquer it bringing it back to its original glory. CCI cleaned down the original windows and brickwork and combined with new paintwork throughout we were able to lay a sound foundation for the new furniture installation.
CCI in keeping with the industrial feel to the building, used exposed cable baskets and steel drop downs to allow full cable access to anywhere in the office. We used steel posts and coloured cable to add interest. The furniture choice was an open framed modern classic. It allows cables to be fed straight from the power pole into the cable trays under the desks and to access up to 8 workstations. This solution allows for a cable free floor and a clean look to the workstations.