Alluring Bank Designs

Sugamo Shinkin Bank - Nakaaoki branch

According to the architect, the design concept for this colorful facade was "rainbow melody". The fragmentation present on it, comprised of twelve blocks that double as plant containers, aims to mimic the dynamism of the location the bank is located in: a major intersection with heavy pedestrian and transportation flux. The facade looks different depending on the angle it's being looked at, thus following and interacting with the onlooker as they pass by it.

The plants present on the facade fulfill not only a decorative role but a utilitarian one: they filter the sun in summer, acting as an ephemeral screen. The colors present on the cubes and the flowers in them are meant to play a visual melody that brings happiness and comfort to the people who see it.

Swedbank

This Swedish bank aims to translate some of the companies values - openness, simplicity and care into its design. The language of the project is heavily infused with Scandinavian simplicity and emphasis on a dynamic work environment focused on socialization, brought in by the transparency of its spaces.

The program of the bank is divided by means of a zig-zag layout, which allows the workers to work closely together and denies office hierarchies found in average office environments; it also shortens distances allowing visual contact between the employees and minimizing unused working space areas.

The clients were also taken into consideration in the design, as every aspect of the public areas of the bank is meant to make the client feel comfortable and a part of the institution.

Caja de Badajoz Headquarters

Located in the most populated and economically buoyant city in its region, this bank is an important element of Badajoz. The building had to project an image according to its status but at the same time represent the conservative community it's located in.

The project's proximity to the Gevora river and its bridge had an impact on the exterior aesthetics of the building, as its facade attempts a dialogue with them both to create a visual connection. The horizontal portion of the project contains public areas including a cafe, an exhibition hall, an auditorium, among others. The vertical volume contains the administrative portion of the bank hosting executive offices. The facade's double skin, composed of glass and metallic vertical screens is an answer to Extremadura's bright sun.

Rabobank Westelijke Mijnstreek Advice Centre

This bank with many self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs as its clients had a couple of requests to be fulfilled by the architects: the design had to be inspiring, natural, accessible, inviting and most important of all- it didn't have to look like a bank. Since many of the bank's clients are self-employed, the owners wanted to make it possible for them to make use of the facilities to do their jobs if they felt inclined to do so, which meant public co-working spaces had to be included in the project's program, becoming its most relevant feature.

These working spaces are conceptually close to the way a public library operates, with a series of interconnected areas including individual work areas and group work areas and a public cafe for recreation purposes within work-hours. The project includes a series of floor-to-ceiling curtains which act as space separators in case one of the open areas needed to be turned into a more private one.

European Central Bank

This project mixes a landmark structure, the Grossmarkthalle, and a contemporary glass-cloaked skyscraper; the pre-existent building acts as an "urban foyer" that integrates the project to the rest of the city. Its location and height allows it to visually connect with several other landmarks of the city, such as the Museum Embankment, the Alte Oper and the skyline of the financial district; this connection goes both ways as the project can be seen from a wide radius.

The shape of the skyscraper portion of the project is the result of the figurative twisting of a monolithic block, creating a sharp-edged shape that folds into itself; this shape allows the building to have different characters depending on the position it's been looked at: slender and angular from one side, massive from another.

Sugamo Shinkin Bank -Tokiwadai Branch

This bank takes pride in making its customers happy and aims to translate this care into the design in each one of its branches by the means of color and its ability to improve their clients' moods; they usually work with the same architect, Emmanuelle Moureaux, a Tokyo-based French architect who is known for her brightly colored architecture and design projects.

This project, in particular, is based on the concept of foliage and trees; the program includes a series of interior gardens including real trees into the design and a variety of painted leaves that aim to overlap with the trees living in the gardens. The facade mimics the way the light comes between the foliage, and its perforated cladding draws tree silhouettes on the facade.