Background
For many years the business incubator Företagsfabriken in Kronoberg have housed in Videum Science Park in Växjö. They started off with just a small office space with some meeting rooms attached but they kept growing and as soon as the space was filled they just kept on adding the next room to the layout without any actual plan. Eventually in 2021 they had taken over the entire office floor of appx. 450m2 and by then the need for an office renovation was crucial to make the space efficient for the business and its needs. Företagsfabriken then reached out to us at Plym for the planning of the renovation but also to create an actual office concept. Since Företagsfabriken is a business incubator the space needed to hold entrepreneurs in the incubation process and their interns as well as guest workers and business developers. They also host events on a regular basis for businesses both in Kronoberg and for guests internationally. All this and a lot more created the brief for the project.
Result
You can almost smell the creativity and creation. Once you step inside the doors to the first open area the first thing you notice is the high level of energy. The open space invites you to work no matter if you want to do it together with your colleagues or business developers standing around a high table or to just easily sink down by yourself in an armchair. If you look around you can see how companies and their ideas are on a proud display but also tributes to the alumni who have taken the journey and succeeded. You feel how the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the crispiness of green plants blend together as it surrounds and frames the open area and the rest of the office to help generate air for the hard work that’s being made here in the factory. You have come to the factory, to “the Company factory” in Kronoberg. (Företag translates to company and fabrik translates to factory – in other words you could poorly translate it to “the Company factory”)
Sustainable and expansive companies develop in the factory where they get prepared for a global market. Diamonds in the rough gets polished with sharp, honest and sometimes tough business programs. The factory that acts as the scene for the journey is timeless, monochrome and in many ways minimalistic. Its meaning is to serve both companies and business developers as they together work hard for the best business ideas of tomorrow. Each room has its own purpose if not more than one. No area or object exists without a relation to a need or function. The design is pedagogic and there’s no question about how to use the different areas like you would expect from a high producing factory. The restraint interior acts as background and the people in the space add the color, shape and ideas that really creates the space.
The togetherness at the factory is obvious and the people here are humble, passionate and inclusive. Some of the entrepreneurs that may have started their journey alone in an office now sit next to each other and inspire and help each other out. You feel that you’re a part of everyone’s success and it’s easy to have open discussions and create solutions to problems together. Transparency is key och the trust you feel within the factory generates possibilities for open meetings and clear glass windows but it also makes you feel like you’re a part of everything that is happening here.
