Johanna & Mark about the ever unfinished office

2016-06-15

A short move physically but a giant leap for the company, is one way of putting it when Tengbom’s Stockholm office moved into new premises. It is not coincidental that it sounds like Neil Armstrong’s famous statement as he landed on the moon – because here, there is no lack of vision.

After a considerable growth spurt here at Tengbom in the last few years, the old head office in Stockholm was suddenly too small. It also had the drawback of being divided into two different addresses – something that turned out to be rather impractical despite them being close to each other.

”A small physical barrier can be a large psychological one”, says Mark Humphreys who is one of two office managers together with Johanna Munck af Rosenschöld, who have both been responsible for the project.

Mark and Johanna
Johanna Munck af Rosenschöld and Mark Humphreys.

The solution was to move everything to one of the addresses where half of the offices were located, but to new premises higher up in the building. The level of ambition was high. It is not just today’s place of work that is presented but also the one of tomorrow – and the future. We have learned things from previous offices: What worked well? What worked less well? In addition, the expertise inside the walls has been used to the max through workshops, investigations and questionnaires.

Tengbom HQ in Stockholm 2

The result is a flexible and versatile office that is not only environmentally friendly, resource efficient and well thought out structurally but also is open to our own solutions, initiatives and the exchange of ideas between colleagues.

”The goal has been a creative workshop where nothing is stopping us from working, getting materials out and making a mess. We want our colleagues to display the projects they are working on, to debate and learn from each other. We have focused a lot on making it easier for the interior designers and have had to let go of the guide rails and look at reality”, say the architects.

”The office is an ongoing process that will never be finished. We don’t want it to be finished! We don’t call it activity based, but ’innovation based’. It is the next step”, they say.

Naturally, an architect firm must of course do as they preach. But the work place does not just function as an elegant shop window for visitors to see but also as a workshop constantly busy where we, in addition to the more traditional work stations also have room for a generous model workshop, a well-stocked library of materials, conference rooms of varying sizes, a gym – and a table tennis table popular with adults and visiting children alike.

”A workplace does not just consist of 270 desks, because that is not how we work today. The workday looks different both for different people and for the individual on different days. Sometimes, we are making sketches, sometimes we do research and sometimes we have meetings. A workplace must reflect the tasks we perform”, says Johanna Munck af Rosenschöld.

”It was also important to create a greater variation of meeting places since these were somewhat boring in our last office. The greatest and maybe most important addition is the informal meeting place that we call the Arena; a space for the exchange of expertise between colleagues and clients but also an excellent space for lectures and exhibitions”, says Mark Humphreys.

A good, well researched start that gradually will grow into something even better? How could the new office be anything but a success?

Tengbom HQ in Stockholm 4

”We are very proud of this work place. I think it is brave of us to have fewer desks than we have employees but we did not take the decision lightly: all decisions are based on internal investigations of requirements. Instead, we have many alternative workplaces. We feel confident of our decisions at the same time as we are not afraid of new solutions or changes in the future. The most important thing is a vibrant and enthusiastic work place”, cording to Johanna Munck af Rosenschöld.