The warm Yandex office in Krasnodar is located on Krasnykh Partizan Street. It spans 900 square meters within the Capital business center. Compared to the company’s offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg, this southern branch is compact, but its ultimate advantage lies in its incredible natural insolation.
Following the success of their project in St. Petersburg, the client invited the architects to design the new office space, as expanding the team required a larger footprint.
"When developing the concept for the new Yandex office, we drew inspiration from the southern atmosphere and the relaxed vibe of Krasnodar. We decided to infuse Yandex’s recognizable corporate workplace design with these specific undertones for this city's location, letting the unique local character speak for itself," says Principal Architect Aglaya Van-Van-E, describing the concept.
The original layout of the premises followed a traditional corridor-and-office scheme. The space suffered from a shortage of restrooms, and utility shafts blocked the way in the highest-traffic areas. This is where the OFFCON architects applied their signature approach: turning structural flaws into design highlights by cleverly integrating them into the layout.
The reception zone was expanded to match its exact purpose—acting as the face of the company. This was enhanced, among other things, by the office’s sole lighting accent: a dynamic layout of fixtures in the reception area and the main hall, emphasizing the vivid ceilings in these zones.
Speaking of the layout, Aglaya Van-Van-E notes that its core philosophy centers on separating the working areas from the main traffic flow. For the open spaces, a distance-from-entrance principle was applied: loud and high-traffic areas are situated closer to the entrance, while quieter zones unfold deeper into the office.
Beyond the standard workstations, the office features four compact meeting rooms with a capacity of up to five people, one large meeting room for ten people, and an event hall with a tiered lecture tribune that accommodates up to 30 people. The hall can also double as an informal lounge or a space for yoga classes. For relaxation, there are five soft seating areas equipped with massage chairs and a spacious coffee point that seats 20 people.
The synergy of color, volume, and materials leaves employees and guests with the distinct feeling of a summer day. To achieve this, the architects utilized an abundance of light, natural shades that saturate the space with brightness.
The finishes incorporate wood and wood wool, evoking the texture of thatched roofs, paired with vibrant color accents typical of sunny destinations. To prevent the design from becoming overly decorative, these unusual materials are balanced by simple, clean forms and functional solutions tailored for workspaces.
The color palette reflects the southern theme. It is warm and punctuated with bright accents, reminiscent of an evening in the countryside or a dacha garden. The architects also played on the word "Krasny" (meaning "Red") in the city's name—which also happens to be Yandex's corporate color. In the most dynamic zones, such as the reception and the main hall, the open ceiling is finished in this exact hue.
While there are only a few bright spots throughout the entire office, the main accent comes from the meeting room blocks. Clad in wooden panels with acoustic panels along the cornice, they recreate the image of a small house with a thatched roof.
Felt is also used extensively. In the main hall, a felt wall panel depicts a cityscape, and the same material is used to finish the walls in the meeting rooms—arranged in patterns that mimic wooden boards in some places and slate sheets in others.
Ultimately, everyone who steps into the office is enveloped in light and warmth, precisely as the architects intended.
Aglaya Van-Van-E, Principal Architect of the project:
"The project turned out vibrant and full of character, which is incredibly rewarding given that supervision was mostly remote, requiring a great deal of trust in the contractor. Most importantly, we managed to convey the core feeling: the atmosphere of southern, summer relaxation, while fully maintaining Yandex's high workspace standards."
