Telia Company HQ

How do you design and communicate the soul and identity of a company – particularly when it’s a name as well known as Telia Company? With curiosity, energy, and courage – and of course, a big dose of architecture.

When the move to a new building on top of the Mall of Scandinavia in Solna was planned in 2014, Telia took the opportunity to not only acquire new facilities, but also to use the project as part of the plan to become a “new generation Telco”.

“The highest level executives were there listening and engaging. Telia was an enthusiastic client who constantly pushed us to be better. ‘We don’t want what we already know you can do. We want you to find new solutions,’ they said,” according to project architect Torbjörn Höeg.

“This is a new office for a new Telia. The main function is to be a place of cooperation and a place of inspiration and energy. Where they sit together, see each other, and are seen. They did a lot of work with branding at the same time as we worked on the interior design, and our efforts dovetailed. They tell the same story but with different “dialects”,” he continues.

A dizzying undertaking

Telia has 3,800 employees and its headquarters measure in at 47,000 square metres. What’s more, they needed to begin with the move as soon as possible. After winning the competition, the challenge began for our interior architects.

“During the first six weeks after the holidays in 2014, we did program work and planned solutions for the main part of the buildings. There were only four of us architects. That wasn’t supposed to work, but it did,” said Torbjörn Höeg.

“We had just finished working on Swedbank’s new headquarters, which was on the same scale, and we had taken away a lot of lessons from that experience. Along with the courage to dare,” says Linn Sylvan.

New office – new opportunities

The office consists of five buildings, four of which are clustered around three large atriums. The assignment was to create a well-functioning, activity-based office for a modern media company. The challenges were many. The enormous scale, of course, was one, but also the variations that were needed. Certain departments required special technical solutions while others, such as customer service, had quite different needs.

The atriums help the employees see each other and be seen in a completely different way than in the closed corridors. This building is a place for meeting and communication.

“Early on, we found a basic structure that worked. We wanted to give Telia a sense of speed, agility and energy. It was important to instil this active feeling, while making sure the office functions as a whole. Now when we pop in for a visit, we see that people have made those different spaces their own,” says Linn Sylvan.

“The atriums help the employees see each other and be seen in a completely different way than in the closed corridors. This building is a place for meeting and communication. There is conversation everywhere,” concludes Torbjörn Höeg.

The interior concept

For the interior design, we developed a concept called Spectrum/Speed of Light, which reflects the brand and the company’s digital operations. The interior breathes with a sense of speed and action, inviting activity and movement, as well as providing energy through a wide spectrum of colours with strong accents. The concept, along with Telia’s core values Dare, Care and Simplify – and a major focus on sustainability – were the leitmotifs of this project.