Large office projects require new services
More and more large companies in Stockholm are choosing to move out of the central areas of the city. Companies such as Vattenfall and TeliaSonera have established new head offices in Arenastaden, which has given Solna a real boost. In all, the companies represent 5,800 jobs, and with SEB now building a new office, also at Arenastaden, this is Sweden’s biggest office project in 30 years. When construction is complete, the bank’s new head office will provide space for over 4,000 people.
Big companies may be moving out of Stockholm city centre, but the trend on the west coast is the exact opposite. Competition is fierce for central locations in Gothenburg, which has resulted in continuous construction of new office properties in central locations. The local planning authority recently presented new visions for the area around Ullevimotet, where three new high-rise blocks are to be built, providing a total of 100,000 m2 of office space.
The increasingly comprehensive office projects mean that interior design gains ever greater significance. More effective use of space and coordination of resources contribute to increased exchange of knowledge, better productivity and large cost savings. A successful project involving logistics, coordination and a smooth transition sets demanding requirements for design, function and operation following completion of the project.
Projects that provide experience
For Sweden’s furniture producers, these projects have been hugely important, since the investments in interior design have meant large orders for leading producers in the country. The last few years have been a period of intense activity for Interior architects, as well as interior design companies. Clients make ever greater demands for flexibility, knowledge and services linked to interior deliveries and want to focus on their core activities throughout the process, from analysis to implementation and ongoing operation.
For interior design companies like Input interior, the investment in individual divisions that work on ever larger and more extensive projects has worked out exceptionally well. Growth has been steady at over 12 % per year for the past five years. One major reason is the work commenced seven years ago to develop processes and strategies to implement large interior design and change projects in the best way possible.
“Working on projects of this size is risky and places heavy demands on us as interior suppliers. There is no room for error or a lull in activity either during execution of the project or in operation once the project is concluded. The investment in models and processes that we developed safeguards the quality of projects and the implementation phase in a cost-effective way for our clients,” says Mille Milehem, COO, Input interior Sweden AB, and continues:
“The industry has had problems with overly large projects being implemented where the quality was lacklustre and expertise in short supply, which results in costly and sometimes devastating consequences. Our system and project management ensure success for both us and our clients.”
Accurate analysis gives an advantage
Over the past five years Input interior has implemented some of the biggest and most extensive projects in Sweden for clients such as Vattenfall, the Swedish National Courts Administration, Swedavia, Tele2 Arena, Friends Arena, TeliaSonera and SEB (currently ongoing).
“Our analysis of the new needs that our clients’ successes entail has proved to tally with the reality we are now seeing. The work we began seven years ago means that we now have the greatest expertise and the organisation to manage large projects and agreements both in Sweden and overseas, and that is an advantage we intend to maintain,” says Sune Lundqvist, CEO and founder of Input interior.
