Skandia’s workplace renovation has seen the financial firm’s office transform from a disjointed, rigid environment into a colourful dynamic interior, offering staff more choice when it comes to how they want to work.
Increasing worker collaboration was a key driving factor when it came to many of the decisions, with a great emphasis placed on dynamic meeting and social zones to encourage staff to interact in more creative ways.
Interior Designers Senab were enlisted to help with the transition, which was made more difficult by the fact that the office had to remain operational throughout. To handle this, the project was split into three stages, with the approximately 250 workers having to rotate several times throughout the process in order for new development to occur.
The Design
A central element to the design involved the use of colour to delineate particular work zones. Bright colours, as well as Nordic materials, were selected for an array of furniture and fittings, with different colour schemes selected for each floor of the 6000 square meter office space. The renovation also unified to furniture used in the office. What was previously a collection of mismatched desks, chairs and shelving was replaced by matching sets, creating a more precise impression for visitors and staff alike.
The Furniture
HÅG Capisco chairs are used in several of the areas, including the more formal meeting area as well as at individual workstations. It’s open and expressive shape makes it a great choice for more communicative environments such as formal meetings, whilst its support and lasting comfort allow it to work equally well in more individual task-based situations.
For more casual and ad-hoc meeting areas, Offecct Carry On Stools were paired with Offecct On Point Table. This playful pairing offers staff a more relaxed meeting point, with the easily carried stools lending themselves to workspaces seeking more flexible solutions. They can easily be carried over to workstations too for impromptu desk-meetings.
With so many meeting points, the possibility of audio disturbance increases. To reduce the impact of chatter noise, Senab introduced an array of acoustic solution to the workspace, dividing the open areas as well as used on walls to damped sound. This also helped in the zoning of areas without erecting physical walls, increasing the effect of natural light in the process.
Offecct Soundwave® Wicker by Wingårdh & Wikerstål was one of the acoustic solutions used. Its woven pattern with natural pockets has a nearly ideal shape for sound absorption and was originally designed for use in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Read - Offecct acoustic solution shortlisted for 2020 Dezeen award
Individual Touch
Taking advantage of Flokk’s ability to use custom fabric, Skandia opted for some very individual fabric choices, especially with the Offecct Carry On Stools. After passing the fabric suitability test, the patterned fabric was used, together with a selection of colour-matched fabrics to create the ensemble effect of stools around the table.
For the HÅG Capisco, a warm and bold orange fabric was sourced from our extended collection available perfectly suited to the aesthetic approach.
Speaking after moving in, Mattias Forsmark, Operations and Service Manager at Skandia said, “Today we have a bright, fresh and very modern office that can handle the rapid changes we can face. But above all, we get wonderful positive feedback from our employees who have now worked for a while in our refurbished premises and got to work on our new furniture, and they are very satisfied.”
Photography: Pär Olert
Interior Design by: Senab
