The design was inspired by Kallio’s raw urban culture and a trendy, laid-back style.
This is not your typical office. The space features innovative materials, such as the Turkish slab placed on the kitchen wall of the fourth floor.
Each floor includes lounges, or “marketplaces,” designed to bring employees together, offering spaces to relax and work in a more casual setting.
The floor themes — Play, Sports, Zen, and Garden — lead into different garage-inspired spaces.
On the sixth-floor “Play” garage, the background wall of the marketplace area is decorated with copper mesh. The Zen-themed floor features swings and a relaxation corner to provide some personal peace. The Exhale room offers a quiet retreat during the hustle and bustle of the workday.
ELISA KAARLENKATU
2800 m2
2020
Kallio, Helsinki, Finland
Principal Design | Architecture | Furniture Design | Concept | Project Management | Interior Architecture | Workplace Development
Challenge
The office, designed in 2011, had become outdated and lacked natural light. The space was dominated by bold patterns and felt cramped. The aim was to create a modern, fun, and spacious environment for Elisa’s IT service workers and coders. Inspiration was drawn from the company’s game room located in the same building, with its relaxed atmosphere intended to be extended throughout the four office floors on Kaarlenkatu. The renovation needed to be completed swiftly and within a limited budget, which required innovative and efficient design solutions.
Benefit
The office space was transformed into a more enjoyable and engaging workplace for young coders, supporting brainstorming and group interactions. No major architectural changes were made to the space, and existing furniture, such as desks and acoustic elements, was reused. The themes of the four floors reflect different types of garages, and the masculine refuge of the garage environment was integrated into the décor and activities of each floor.
Coders can head to the traditional “Play” garage on the sixth floor, where some of the furniture was sourced unusually from a hardware store. The fifth floor leads to a garden-inspired garage atmosphere, while the fourth floor’s athletic theme captivates with its visual appeal and activities, such as dart throwing and break-time exercises. The third floor balances the work areas with a more peaceful, zen-focused space.
On the journey of change management, we use e.g. these our own work environment development tools
- Hybrid Work – work method survey – A quick way to map the views of the staff – more information for facility planning and change management
- Office Space Dimensioning – space program – For space search, a summary of space needs and the square footage of the future office
- New Normal Strategy – management workshop – Guidelines for office space change, management’s common understanding of goals and work culture
- Office Concept and Next Steps – draft planning and conceptualization process – Crystallized concept and visual appearance of the new office. A customized measure proposal for the continuation of the project
- Culture Hack workshop – Suggestions for new operating models for the hybrid work toolkit, as well as new spatial development ideas related to the operating models for the office concept.
- Hybrid Work Pocket Book – a manager’s guide – A tool for teams to agree on the rules of the game for hybrid work
- House Rules workshop – Game rules of the work environment to increase functionality and comfort, a common spirit for hybrid work and the opportunity for personnel to bring forward ideas in a solution-oriented environment
- Hybrid Pulse follow-up survey – when you want to stay on the pulse of how your work environment works