I love learning about a designer’s intent and what inspires it.
Belief in a heavenly power certainly has inspired many of our planet’s most incredible structures and interiors. As I write this, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris is preparing for a grand reopening on Dec. 8, 2024 – the Feast of the Immaculate Conception – after a devastating fire in 2019 nearly destroyed this beloved 12th-century house of worship. I’m glad the 21st-century designers charged with the restoration honored the original intent.
For the secular, the muse might present the grandeur of place or geography – a certain city or river or mountain range – as an inspirational feast for the senses. Or perhaps something miniscule teases the corners of the designer’s mind. Then again, the muse might turn the mind’s eye to unexpected angles, seeding new ideas.
Constraints, of course, inform design. I particularly admire those projects that have no blank slate but rather specific requirements and knotty obstacles and storied pasts that designers must work within to get to the future state.
Infused in constraints are a company’s culture, values and brand.
So, I was fascinated when I learned of a large-scale interior renovation project led by the innovative international design firm Gensler for a German company called Celonis, a start-up founded in 2011 that had grown into a global leader specializing in data analytics and process mining.
“Celonis” is a name derived from the Latin word “celere,” meaning “to be swift” or “to accelerate.” The name reflects the company’s mission to enable faster and more efficient client operations.
I wondered: How does a designer visualize and represent such abstract concepts?
The project was for Celonis’s Munich headquarters, where the company wanted to renovate several floors of the century-old building and open additional floors, creating an expansive, multi-story center for global customer engagement.
Gensler Design Director Megan Dobstaff told me that, with the project, Celonis was honoring an incredible milestone: achieving “decacorn” status, the first company in Germany to do so. The term is derived from “unicorn,” which describes privately held startups valued at $1 billion or more. Decacorns are rare and typically represent significant success in their industry – think SpaceX, Stripe, Airbnb.
Although Celonis wanted to celebrate its hard work, the company eschews ostentation and excess. The company wanted any renovations to reflect the values of honesty and openness inherent in its mission and business model.
To assist in this design challenge, Dobstaff and her Munich- and London-based team extrapolated Celonis’s core business – process mining – into a design philosophy of “stripping away any unnecessary veils and overlays” in pursuit of clarity and transparency.
With this philosophy settled, the Gensler team then approached the project with the idea of treating the building like a living entity – “x-raying” the interior space to uncover and enhance its intrinsic features.
As a result, the project involved minimal demolition and reused many existing materials and furnishings. This strategy was not only cost-effective but also incredibly sustainable and led to LEED Gold status.
“The final result exemplifies Celonis’s goal of finding hidden value to unlock full potential,” Dobstaff said.
Let’s take a look.
The building as a breathing body
Celonis’s headquarters is in a rowhouse-style fortress constructed in 1911 in Munich’s Maxvorstadt neighborhood. The seven-story structure has features typical of early 20th-century German architecture, including robust masonry and classical detailing.
Various remodeling and decorating efforts through the years reflected the styles of particular decades. Before Celonis moved into the building, modernizations included new HVAC and electrical systems, which led to the inevitable “covering up” of such necessary but thought-of unsightly components.
As Celonis grew and expanded with offices around the globe, so too did its needs at headquarters. Notably, the company sought an immersive environment that would unite employees and global customers to pursue mutual goals – a place offering exclusive access and insights into the organization, its people, processes and technologies, and an incubator for collaborative innovation. The company dubbed this envisioned space the “Celonisphere.”
This ambition would require expanding into additional floors within the Munich building.
Celonis engaged Gensler in 2020 to begin the multi-year, multi-story renovation project after hiring the design firm to enhance its New York City offices.
It’s worth noting that Celonis recently underwent a rebranding, changing its corporate primary colors to black and white, with secondary colors of blue and green intended only for digital graphics. This rebranding significantly influenced Gensler’s design for the New York and Munich projects. The Gensler team developed a consistent narrative across the locations by ensuring similarities in brand implementation while maintaining each office’s local character.
The nature of Celonis’s work in Munich also informed the design. Much of the company’s 600 or so Munich-based employees are coders who need a lot of quiet – until they don’t. Sometimes, they need to commune with colleagues in pursuit of solutions or for a bit of respite.
In keeping with the design approach for the Munich project, Dobstaff and her team set about “x-raying” the total 68,000-square-foot space – in other words, engaging contractors and craftsmen to peer behind and pry away walls and ceilings and other facades to understand the “bones” of the building (the internal structure), the “lungs” (the HVAC system) and the “ligaments” (electrical / lighting / power systems).
Discovering what was hidden would impact the design plan.
Celonis had a strong preference for concrete as a material and design aesthetic, but initially, none was visible in the space. The “x-raying” process revealed, however, a significant number of concrete structures to expose and preserve. The process also revealed rafted wood ceilings in some areas, which would also be left uncovered and incorporated into the design.
Gathering and interpreting all the “x-rayed” data – as well as the various design requirements and constraints – the Gensler team then created the overall design plan. Instead of recommending major “surgery” for Celonis’s Munich space, Gensler prescribed shedding unneeded “weight” by removing certain walls and ceilings to reveal a beautiful physique.
“We considered various design solutions, but ultimately, we embraced much of the building’s existing structure and adapted our design to fit its unique context,” Dobstaff said. “The final plan, although integrating modern elements reflective of Celonis’s identity, respects much of the building’s original physique and structure.”
Executing the intent
Gensler’s design plan maximized the seven-story building’s rowhouse style, capitalizing on its intrinsic rectangular framing. Celonis’s distinct black-and-white color palette reinforced the lean, linear aesthetic.
The plan called for retaining most of the existing office configurations on Celonis’s original floors, although a few walls were removed to create two open flex spaces. Also, a canteen on the ground floor was opened up to be airier and more accessible and to accommodate company all-hands gatherings.
In keeping with the budget- and sustainability-conscious ethos, office “fronts” were repurposed and universally painted black to create a cohesive look and remedy mismatched conditions throughout the floors. Fritted-glass partitions were also retained. However, a number of opaque doors were replaced with glass ones to lend transparency and modernity to the space.
The most extensive renovations occurred on the upper floors, where the “Celonisphere” was to be. Here, an existing staircase and open stairwell connecting two floors became the anchor for a soaring, two-story space.
In keeping with the total design plan, the Celonisphere reflects the bold yet minimalist aesthetic. A unique feature to underscore this effect called for concrete blocks to encase the staircase and a balcony area. When a product couldn’t be found to adhere to structural weight limitations, Gensler partnered with the contractor to design, mold and manufacture a lightweight fiber-reinforced concrete block with a hollow center.
“The blocks visually represent Celonis’s transparency ethos and the connected process intelligence they provide their clients,” Dobstaff said.
Another decision was to expose electrical conduit in this area, enhancing the transparent and connected ethos.
For the Celonisphere’s lower level, Gensler created ‘incubator labs’ for live workshops, demos and software application testing. These labs include movable screens and stools, peg- and corkboard walls, writable and tackable panels, and other amenities that offer flexibility and foster creativity.
An executive boardroom on the Celonisphere’s upper level continues the simple yet elegant design. The existing ceiling was painted black. Lights were repurposed from another area of the office. Electrical tape was used to create murals on the walls.
Installing rubber and cork flooring, large plants and living walls in certain areas added warmth and deadened noise in the ample space.
Sustainability emerged as a crucial aspect of the overall renovation. The existing HVAC system was retained, as were 90% of the walls, 85% of the light fixtures and 75% of the ceilings.
“While we didn’t initially set out to retain and refurbish such an extensive amount of the existing architectural conditions, it became an organic outcome of our approach and a reflection of the company’s values,” Dobstaff said. “It’s remarkable how much can be achieved with thoughtful and intentional design, even under budget constraints.”
Impact on employees
Gensler completed the project in early 2024. Dobstaff said the renovated space has had a profound impact on Celonis’s Munich employees.
“I’ve heard from people working in the building that the office revival thoroughly embodies who they are and what they do as a company. They enjoy coming to work every day because the interior is a three-dimensional representation of their company’s identity and values,” she said.
Additionally, the space was designed to adapt to evolving needs and desires.
“The space isn’t too ‘precious’ – meaning, we designed it so employees could change it up and adapt it as they evolve and experiment in their work processes,” Dobstaff said.
For instance, Celonis’s graphics department has added designs and applied different wall graphics, making areas more personalized and dynamic.
The journey from design intent to completion is a testament to the Gensler team’s ingenuity.
Dobstaff shared, “When you start with a blank slate, one can naturally go in any direction. But working with limitations pushes you to think creatively and develop inventive solutions. In this case, we prescribed low-key interventions that created high impact. The result intertwines existing structures with forward-thinking ideas to create a space that is distinctly Celonis.”