Bene Office Furniture

Invista International sàrl

Architect: MR-A Michael Racheter Associates
Sales Office: Bene Switzerland

An Office that Takes Off
In late June 2005, Invista International sàrl, the global specialist in textile fibres, relocated to its new Swiss head office right at Geneva airport. Invista's open-space office, which includes a variety of zones of interaction, was designed and implemented by Bene.

Following continuous expansion, this successful global enterprise started to look for new premises in late June 2005. The global market leader in polyester and polyester fibres was particularly interested in perfect transport connections and generous space for approximately eighty staff in French-speaking Switzerland. The new place was eventually spotted right at Geneva airport – a modern building directly connected to the airport via a bridge, allowing maximum travel planning flexibility.

Invista moved into its new Swiss head office on the second floor of the building late last June. The building was carefully revitalised by the architects MR-A Michael Racheter Associates, who put a modern office concept into effect on a floor space of approx. 1,500 square metres: a two-winged office floor that reflects the company's central corporate values of flexibility, innovation and health awareness.

Focus on communication
"Invista has achieved a truly perfect office solution with numerous zones of interaction", says Thomas Rudolphi, Bene's managing director in Switzerland. "The people working at Invista now have a cafeteria, many different meeting rooms and various recreation zones".

In a central position right next to the reception, a large auditorium divides the office floor into two wings. The company uses this generous space for convenient accommodation of up to forty-five attendants at lectures.

To the left of the auditorium, Invista has arranged a waiting area that includes a lounge with chairs and settees for short periods of waiting or laid-back meetings. A generous cafeteria on the opposite side is available not only for the staff but also for brief meetings with visitors and clients.

This area also includes the main meeting room, which can be adapted to the required group size and put to flexible use with mobile divisions – be it as a large meeting room for up to twenty people or for ten people in each of two separate rooms. Mobile Folding Com tables ensure maximum flexibility.

Communication at the blink of an eye
Both on the left and right sides of the auditorium, the generous open space offices are furnished with Bene X9 workstations in clustered configurations for twenty people each. Three think tanks in the middle of the open space office offer room for concentrated task work or a moment of privacy. To benefit from a maximum of daylight, the entire floor was structured by Bene RG whole-glass walls.

Furnished with Bene's AL_Group Management programme, the single offices of Invista's Management are placed right next to the open space office area. As AL stands for aluminium, high tech, innovation and mobility, it effectively reflects the corporate image. While K2 storage space provides enough room for all personal records, XT tables stand ready for brief meetings.

Spacious washrooms and showers can be used by staff who have returned from long trips. "People are central for Invista", says Thomas Rudolphi. "The new head office impressively shows the company's commitment with its own employees and its clients".