Sony Music

The Cushman & Wakefield PDS Team called in the for the interior design, quickly understood our needs and interpreted these aspects every step of the way: from the reception area to the work zones, the Sony Music Club to the terrace.

The offices, on three levels for an overall area of about 2500 sqm, have varying heights and large glazings to gather natural light while preserving privacy. The project team – made up of Lamberto Agostini, project supervisor and Maida Cattaneo and Pietro Dormia, Interior Design & Project Management – has specified the organization of the layout of the two operative levels, with 40 work positions on the ground floor and 60 on the first, focusing on the creation of differentiated operative areas.

The operative areas are joined by teamwork spaces and meeting rooms with reservation systems. The chromatic research has led to neutral tones for the operative area, with accents of red-orange, yellow and blue on the floor, while the spaces for communication and teamwork alternate pastel and bright tones, especially in the furniture, to make the zones more interesting and stimulating.

Another challenge for the designers was the issue of acoustic comfort: to achieve the levels of soundproofing and absorption desired by the client, a painstaking study was made on the use of particular thicknesses for the vertical partitions, along with the installation of special suspended ceilings and acoustic panels of various kinds. The upper level contains the auditorium with a stage, for impromptu performances. The project relies on continuous interpenetration of outdoor and indoor spaces, starting with the glazing of the upper level that opens to the large terrace, ready for the organization of events and presentations for the press, clients and staff. The same applies to the outdoor spaces at ground level, featuring various species of plants to offer moments of relaxation and recreation.

The final phase of the project has been the creation on the ground floor of an avant-garde recording studio. This is a return to the roots, when production was done in-house, as in the 1970s.

Cushman & Wakefield designers have supervised the project calling for a sequence of perfectly separated soundproof spaces, using the “box in box” system, and completed with handmade sound-absorbing materials. The vivid hues of the fabrics and a colored dimmable LED lighting system set an ideal atmosphere for the work of the artists. The originality of the finishes extends to the acoustic diffraction panels in wood fibre, bearing the Sony Music logo: a fine example of the combination of functionality and decoration.

Sony Music staff were unsure at first about the move away from the old facility - which was a point of reference, even though it was also inefficient and out of line with the evolution of the music business. Now all employees appreciate the effective performance of the spaces, the teamwork possibilities, for interaction and communication. In short, the client's overall response is very positive. The last phase of the project was the completion of the RCA recording studios, which resulted in a big success for the music community.