The Treehouse Workplace: A Nature-Inspired Office for Collaboration and Culture in Germany

The Treehouse Workplace by Ippolito Fleitz Group redefines the contemporary office as a holistic environment for collaboration, concentration, and cultural exchange. Designed for HassiaGruppe, Germany’s largest soft drink manufacturer, the project reflects the company’s unique identity, where long-standing tradition meets entrepreneurial innovation.

Following the integration of Bionade into the Hassia portfolio, the new headquarters became an opportunity not only to rethink spatial organization, but also to redefine work culture. The design responds with an open, communicative workplace concept that supports flexibility, inclusivity, and sustainable values, while visibly expressing the brand’s DNA.

Open-Plan Office Design with Room-in-Room Flexibility

At the heart of the building lies a flexible room-in-room system that balances structure and freedom. This architectural framework enables adaptable zoning across the open-plan office, allowing spaces to evolve with changing work modes. Storage units, whiteboards, and acoustic panels are seamlessly integrated into the modular system, supporting both collaborative and focused activities.

Workspaces are organized around the building’s functional core, creating a varied landscape of open areas for communication alongside quieter zones for concentrated, heads-down work. This deliberate mix positions the building itself as a tool for change management, demonstrating that open-plan offices can successfully accommodate retreat as well as interaction.

The Ground Floor as a Social and Cultural Hub

The ground floor acts as the social heart of the workplace, functioning less as a traditional reception area and more as a hospitality-driven communal space. A generously designed bar welcomes employees and visitors alike, showcasing Hassia’s full product range while encouraging informal interaction.

With lounge-like seating, communal cooking facilities, and flexible co-working areas, the space supports shared meals, spontaneous meetings, lectures, and town hall events. A stepped seating area open on all sides and a circular meeting island, enclosed by a semi-opaque curtain when needed, offer adaptable settings for both formal and informal gatherings. Together, these elements foster a strong sense of belonging and shared corporate identity.

Alcoves, Views, and the Experience of Retreat

On the upper floors, alcoves extend outward through the building’s façade, creating intimate niches suspended between interior and exterior. These spaces offer views into surrounding treetops or across adjacent production halls, serving as quiet retreats or informal meeting spots.

By encouraging moments of reflection and mental pause, the design acknowledges contemplation as an essential mode of work. Transparency becomes a key theme: the workplace openly communicates its values to the outside world: innovative, people-focused, and environmentally conscious.

The Creative Crown: Innovation Pavilion and Roof Landscape

The top floor forms the symbolic “tree crown” of the building. Here, the Innovation Pavilion functions as a flexible creative space, equipped with mobile partitions and non-static furniture to support agile working practices. Surrounded by lush greenery, it departs from the conventional conference room model, instead offering an immersive, nature-inspired environment.

Connected directly to a roof terrace, the space enables a new form of togetherness, where collaboration is paired with expansive views and fresh air. Above the main entrance, a fruit tree orchard reinforces the project’s commitment to sustainability and nature, creating a living oasis amid the surrounding industrial landscape.

The apple trees also reference Bionade’s origins, symbolizing the brand’s fruit-based soft drinks produced using traditional brewing methods. Sustainability and storytelling merge seamlessly in both architecture and landscape.

Sustainable Materials and Brand-Driven Design

Sustainability is embedded throughout the building envelope and interior design. The façade is clad in copper made from a melted-down, disused Bionade brewing kettle, an expressive gesture that connects corporate history with contemporary architecture.

Inside, a concrete core-activated ceiling provides energy-efficient heating and cooling, while lamella ceilings made from recycled PET bottles ensure optimal acoustics. Flooring from the Object Carpet × Ippolito Fleitz Group collection incorporates Econyl yarn derived from repurposed fishing nets, reinforcing the project’s circular design principles.

Wooden wall paneling throughout the office enhances acoustic comfort and references the natural origins of the company’s products, reinforcing the “treehouse” concept both visually and experientially. A final brand-forward detail appears on the ground floor: deep-blue wall tiles inspired by the color of beverage crates, an understated yet powerful expression of corporate identity translated into material form.

Architecture as a Living Brand Expression

The Treehouse Workplace exemplifies how architecture can serve as a physical manifestation of corporate values. Through flexibility, sustainability, and a strong connection to nature, Ippolito Fleitz Group has created a workplace that is open, transparent, and future-oriented: an environment where people, brand, and architecture grow together.

All photographs are works of  Philip Kottlorz