2014-11-28
Activity-based workplaces on everyone's lips
Activity-based workplaces (ABW) are on everyone's lips. Our working life is undergoing a structural change, creating both new opportunities and challenges. How should our premises be designed to provide the best support for work? Does the answer lie in the ability to choose a work environment according to activity?
Interior designer Lisa Mannheimer at FOJAB arkitekter has designed Skanska's new regional office Klipporna in Malmö Hyllie based on an activity-based approach. The 6,000 square meter office is characterized by beautiful natural materials, colours and furniture, and exudes quality and timelessness.
In a well-functioning workplace, there is a balance between opportunities for focused work and collaboration. Freedom of choice for the individual is important, and flexibility stimulates creativity and the exchange of ideas. 'There is no doubt that today's technological developments provide fantastic opportunities and invite new ways of working,' says Lisa Mannheimer. But it is also important when discussing ABW environments that they are adapted to the businesses and companies you work with. Ready-made, simple concepts that are just applied straight away do not work, no matter how trendy they are.
Skanska wanted a modern workplace that meets the need to meet and work together as "One Skanska". They wanted an innovative work environment, where cooperation and collaboration are seen as success factors, both internally and when meeting visitors.
Lisa Mannheimer has a long-standing partnership with Skanska. Over the years, they have invested in the purchase of good quality, classic design furniture and fittings that stand the test of time. Now they had the opportunity to use much of the company's existing furniture as a base for new additions in the same spirit.
The building, designed by Henning Larsen Architects, is characterized by load-bearing elements in solid white concrete. To tell the story of Skanska, once the Skånska Cement Foundry, concrete has also been used in the interior design, for example in the countertops. The building is environmentally certified to LEED Platinum level.
We have let the green idea permeate the interior design and worked with few, but well-chosen materials. The Scandinavian blonde tone reflects the international Skanska's Nordic origins, using materials such as light ash, wool and linen," says Lisa Mannheimer.