Bank branch OFICINA OBERTA

OFICINA OBERTA Bank branch. The appearance of large shopping centres has created a new relationship between people and consumption in our society. They are multifunctional centres that break away from the traditional idea of urban planning. These centres have been converted into collective spaces and are the new centres of collective interest where people can come together to socialise. In certain respects, they have replaced the traditional town square, the main street or the boulevard, and have given rise to a new type of indoor public space. The large supermarket is the axis around which shopping centres revolve. They are what attract consumers who come to the shopping centres to cover their basic household shopping needs. Retail outlets vie amongst themselves for the business of impulse shoppers. For example, new bank branches have had to be located in these shopping centres and analysis of the context has conditioned how these new branches have been developed. It was not a question of reproducing the traditional local bank on a smaller scale, but rather of proposing a radical change in the local bank branch concept, as it was important to integrate banks into the same environment along with the vast number of other products that shopping centres have to offer. The proposal involved creating a space that would be capable of capturing the interest of possible clients, through physical presence, advertising and information and offering clients a dynamic, agile, accessible and appropriate business relationship. The traditional office is structured in closed spaces with clearly defined points of access. The new office channels the external space towards the interior. The absence of boundaries creates an open space with undefined dimensions which is not completely exposed to the general public and which invites clients to enter and intuitively discover the space for themselves. The project develops the different modes of attending the general public: general information, transactions, commerce and private business. Produced by: Caixa d´Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona la Caixa Year of design: 1998 Year of production: 1998