The new office of UNIFY Bulgaria is located in the historical center of Sofia in a landmark building from the communist era. The building was before the political changes in Bulgaria 1989 the biggest Central Department Store with the Cyrillic abbreviation “ЦУМ“ not only in Sofia, but in the whole country. The building is part of a post II World war complex designed in a “Stalin” architectural style. After the end of the central totalitarian leadership and with the outbreak of the “new” economy and free competition the Central store lost his dominant position and slowly lost the attraction for be the place for commerce. The new Landlords were not interested to compete with the new shopping malls despite the perfect location, so they decided to rededicate the building for renting office spaces. The solid monolith construction, the high ceiling and and wide open spaces pose a good opportunity for big international companies to transform the spaces in a contemporary office environment.
The design approach
During the years the interior spaces were reconstructed several times, so part of the original interiors is demolished, especially the ornaments on the ceiling. Our approach is based on preserving as much as possible from the past without the aim to reconstruct missing parts or elements, so we want to expose the traces and scars of the time. The program envisages mostly open space layout with conference rooms and relax zones, kitchenettes.