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Compulsion Games
By : Provencher_Roy
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Interior Design
Categories : Office / Office 5,400 - 54,000 sq.ft. (500 - 5 000 sq. m.) : Gold Certification
Compulsion Games: A strange yet familiar universe reflecting the identity of the video games studio
Constructing fascinating worlds is the specialty of Compulsion Games. However, for this project, it was Provencher_Roy that the video games studio called upon to imagine the universe of its offices in Westmount. Founded in 2009, Compulsion Games has since become a Microsoft Xbox Game Studio. Renowned for crafting hallucinatory adventures and retro-futurist dystopian worlds, it was necessary for the new atmosphere to reflect the identity of its professional dreamers. At once strange and familiar, the space therefore simultaneously integrates artisan accents and a taste for industrial style. Prior to the architects’ intervention, the offices were installed in a former coining factory that had been converted into a white box devoid of texture. Provencher_Roy set out to fill the space with the most domestic and warm atmosphere possible, characterized by the addition of ornamental wallpaper, fake beams, brick facing, Persian rugs, and residential lighting.
Spanning 20,000 ft2 (1,860 m2), the new offices are comprised of a secure work zone, a public space destined for visitors, many collaboration spaces, a large cafeteria, a gaming room, and a well-being space. In addition, there is a motion capturing space that can accommodate a small orchestra, recording studio, mixing studio, and 2 sound studios. The required technology therefore constitutes an integral part of the design. Featuring out of the ordinary interior design, the project also conveys complexity, through the choice of textures, colours, and materiality. For example, the cafeteria was imagined as a souk, adorned with an interior pergola and offering a comfortable lounge-type space atypical in the office world.
No long strips of fluorescent lighting and no cold materials at Compulsion Games. Instead, fabric lamp shades and wooden treatment of the walls and ceiling create a soft ambiance for work and relaxation spaces. The integration of alcoves invites employees to isolate themselves for a few minutes, while taking in remarkable views of the Westmount Square residential and office complex. Plants are omnipresent, gently climbing metallic trellises hung on the walls. Particular attention was placed on spatial acoustics, including covering the high ceiling with soundproofing foam and installing carpets of many colours to reduce noise. Make no mistake, the new studio devised by Provencher_Roy for Compulsion Games offers the ideal conditions for the emergence of a universe continually yielding unique games that are endlessly complex and audacious.
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