Flexible room design with partition walls

Autorin: Sandra Aeberhard

The conversion of an office building in the city center of Bordeaux shows how modular, functional and extremely aesthetic rooms can be planned, and how room units with different dimensions can be created depending on requirements using partition wall systems which can be used by the employees and also for meeting and events.

The Rue Vauban lies between the Jardin Public, the Place Quinconces and the river bend of the Garonne. One of the buildings in this quiet but central location underwent comprehensive modernization in 2023. With the conversion, the owner, a real estate company, tailored the office rooms to the needs of its tenants. The main focus was on the ground floor, with its 80 or so square meters, which was antiquated and not particularly inviting. The property developers were clear about their requirements right from the start: They wanted to create modular rooms which made flexible use possible. The rooms were to provide the employees with an inviting atmosphere for their coffee break or lunch, but also be able to be used for business meetings or events involving as many as 40 persons.

Folding sliding walls as flexible room dividers
Interior designer Constance Gardès, who was responsible for the design and the building supervision, created a versatile room structure with differently dimensioned meeting rooms with outstanding flexibility. Together with joiner Guillaume Boidin from Caractère Bois, Gardès worked intensively with technical solution approaches for flexible room dividers. Ultimately, she was convinced by the solution with Hawa hardware for folding sliding walls.

Two five-piece partition walls made from wood with the Hawa Centerfold hardware divide the room into two or three smaller units depending on requirements, or open them into a bigger unit. The central suspension of the elements separates the rooms evenly, and ensures that the parking area can be discreetly positioned at the side. One advantage of the Hawa Centerfold folding/slide-in hardware is that it does not require a guide track in the floor.

Lots of daylight and privacy
The large room adjoining the small units can be elegantly divided off with three wooden frame glass folding walls. The design using glass allows sufficient daylight to get into the interior. In the central area, the three-part door leaves are fitted with opaque glass which provides privacy. The implementation using the Hawa Variofold system, with which the elements are suspended at the side, has the advantage that the partition wall moves to the outer edge of the passage, making the room bigger. When the partition walls are closed, a hinged door secures the access to the smaller units.

Adaptable room structure concept
The idea of Constance Gardès was to give the room sequence a rhythm. The combination of different opening and closing options creates precisely that – an adaptable and quickly modifiable room structure which provides maximum layout design freedom. If the partition walls are not required, they can be parked at the side in a very small space, where they do not affect the appearance of the room. Constance Gardès has created rooms which can be designed in a modular way for her customers and adapted to the needs of the users.
 

Functionality and design
For Guillaume Boidin, the systems from Hawa Sliding Solutions were a perfect match for the requirements of the project. He was impressed by their top class quality, robustness and extraordinarily long service life. However, not only did the functionality of the hardware fulfil the requirements of the property developers and the planners, but they also blend perfectly into the interior designer’s design concept from an aesthetic point of view. This is characterized by a carefully coordinated interplay of materials, colors and finishes, which has been implemented with high quality. The daylight, which reaches the interior through the glass roof of the adjacent room and can penetrate deep into the room through the semi-transparent folding sliding walls, also has an important part to play.