Outokumpu office

Interior Architects Fyra designed the new headquarters for the global leader in stainless steel. Fyra’s interior creates and promotes a new kind of working culture.

When Outokumpu, the global leader in stainless steel, relocated its headquarters from Espoo to Helsinki, the move in itself was not the only change to take place. When the moving trucks arrived in Helsinki in summer 2016, it marked a change towards a working culture characterised by collaboration and togetherness.

The old Espoo offices were located in a building from the 1970s with employees having separate rooms, groups and routines. There was intrigue in moving to the new Helsinki headquarters to work in open-plan offices.

“Nobody misses the old office”

The transition from your own room to an open-floor plan was made smoother by keeping the personnel continuously informed on the latest news and progress of the interior project. For example, employees had the opportunity to try the new furniture and visit the construction site.

The term ‘open-plan office’ does not paint an exact picture of the new Outokumpu headquarters. The outcome is actually more like a hybrid office that incorporates a variety of different spaces for employees to choose from according to their working methods. “We have been here for six months now and nobody misses the old office. The atmosphere is happier. You are more engaged in conversations with your colleagues since people do not sit all day in their rooms. I believe this also improves collaboration between teams”, says Taisto Kauppinen, Real Estate Manager at Outokumpu.

“This is quite the office you have here”

Starting the project, a great deal of thought was put into how to maintain the team spirit and togetherness when people have settled in the new premises and are slightly scattered. Coffee machines were the answer, or rather, reducing the number of machines: the new office has basically just one big coffee machine encouraging interaction between colleagues.

“Occasionally you have to wait for your coffee but that’s alright. The coffee tastes good and people are happy”, Kauppinen says.

Niina Sihto, Interior Architect and partner at Fyra, says that the starting point for the design process was to come up with an interior that would, to a certain extent, reshape the imagery of traditional steel industry without ending up being too trendy. The interior architecture emphasises the brand by using steel details, the colour blue and the simplicity of streamlined visual imagery. This is especially noticeable in the conference centre consisting of 18 different meeting rooms, facilities for conducting phone calls and conference spaces.

“When you enter the centre, first thought that comes to mind is wow, this is quite the office you have here”, Taisto Kauppinen says.

Fyra