Universal Travel Assistance is a company that has been offering comprehensive assistance services to travelers for more than 40 years, with service centers around the world. As part of the Zurich Insurance Group, it has a staff of more than 3,000 employees distributed in 21 countries.
The project for the company’s new offices in the city of Bogotá was developed on a 254 m² plant, within a business complex made up of class A office towers occupied by large multinational firms, excellent access roads and a wide range of complementary services.
In keeping with the vision of the company – to be the best travel insurance and assistance provider in the world in terms of service and customer recognition – the project concept was conceived from the point of view of user experience with a evolution to an office with a modern sense, that promotes suitability and service based on trust, the avant-garde mindset and security so important in that point of connection and possibilities between people and the world. This concept is already materialized from the access, where the client has his first contact with the company in a wide welcome area, with perspective and friendly.
The layout design is organized around a central circulation axis that distributes the different project requirements on both sides. The boardroom and Coffee Point, serving both employees and customers, were strategically located to function independently without the need to traverse the operational area.
For their part, the jobs were organized in Open Plan and have a collaborative work area to favor worker interaction and informal meetings. The closed spaces for the Meeting and Management Room were located on one of the perimeters of the plant and have glazed fronts to favor natural lighting, also allowing natural lighting to enter the open plan, along with an adequate acoustic treatment that helps to maintain privacy and concentration.
The image of the project as a whole appeals to a sober, timeless and elegant style. Different resources, textures and tones were combined to generate the necessary emphasis in each of the spaces. While wood helps to materialize the dividing wall of the cafeteria in a simple and effective way without interrupting the contribution of light to the Reception, the ceilings with the exposed facilities and the exposed concrete slab in the operating area contributes to define functional areas.
Within the chosen color palette, corporate blue stands out, intended to highlight the brand image but without saturating it. The furniture, modern and with simple lines, accompanies and complements the choice together with a lighting design that punctually highlights the circulations and helps to delimit the spaces.
Area: 254 sqm
Term of the work: 191 days
Location: Bogota
Project Manager: Carolina Espitia
Designers: Sergio Franco, Laura Alvarado
Type: Turnkey Project
Year: 2020
Country: Colombia
Activity: Other Industries & Services
Design: Contract Workplaces
