House with a pulse

In the 1970s north of Copenhagen, between Ballerup and Skovlunde, large areas of farmland were transformed into an office park which primary objective was to attract knowledge-intensive companies as well as financial heavyweights. The office park, which attracted a lot of companies, could welcome a long list of household names to the area including the insurance company Tryg, who still occupies a 30,000 m2 characteristic brick building from the late 1970s. The complex premises are made up of 7 buildings, with either 2 or 3 floors, which embrace the main building and a park area with two artificial ponds, which are shaped as a stretched out ü.         

 

The Living House became a competition

In 2007, Tryg organized a competition in regards to the redesign of the headquarters in Ballerup, housing 1500 employees, as well as the Norwegian headquarters in Bergen with a 1000 employees. Tryg´s CEO, Stine Bosse, wanted to give the insurance company a new identity through designing a vibrant building, which promotes creative knowledge sharing and inter-departmental interaction. The competition was won by Built Identity, in collaboration with JJW Arkitekter, who took a radical approach to the project by transforming the closed office spaces and long, uninspiring corridors into transparent spaces dominated by pulsating interaction as well as creating a visual identity, which forms a safe and organic whole. The transformation was intended to realize Stine Bosse´s vision of The Living House - something which has been achieved.

 

A farewell to the coffeemakers

As expected, many of the employees feared the changing times which meant losing the comfortable closed offices as well as coffeemakers, which surprisingly promoted an office setting in which the different departments resembled isolated enclaves, fearing inter-departmental interaction. The isolation had to be broken down and replaced by an environment which would unite employees and improve internal interaction. To accomplish this, Built Identity audaciously incorporated three of the five closed atriums and converted them into two or three floored ´Ramblas´, with a café, lounge area, open meeting space, and space for additional activities e.g. small gatherings or indoor football. The redesigned atriums are constantly used in new, alternative, proving that The Living House strategy works. To support this claim, the closed offices were transformed during an overhaul of the workstation areas. They have become the organizational tool that Tryg wanted at the project beginning i.e. open, clear areas where the hierarchy has been replaced by a vibrant environment, which promotes innovation and solidarity.     

 

The tree of life and great acoustics

One would assume that ideas of openness and transparency were easily implemented in the main building´s vast cafeteria, which is a stylish, high-ceilinged atrium with an impressive view. However, the atrium was designed with poor acoustics due to the many hard surfaces, causing JJW Arkitekter and the engineering consultancy GrontmijCarlBro many troubles. The acoustic problems were overcome by applying acoustic finish to the walls and fitting the glass facades with translucent, perforated panels. In addition, ´The tree of life´, which is a large, elevated cube construction with vertical plant walls, was created to serve as an acoustic regulator, improve the indoor climate as well as add a distinctive, visual feature to the atrium. On a whole, the overall theme of the redesign of TrygVesta was the creation of perfect acoustics. Acoustic problems in open spaces are well-documented, hence the need for designing an acoustic strategy focusing on the intended sound image in the specific situations and spaces. The individual work zones, i.e. the open plan offices, had a high priority, and a combination of acoustic ceilings and carpets accompanied by vertical sound absorbents were fitted. For the less critical areas, conference rooms and open spaces, Built Identity designed a series of modular wall panels covered with different graphic patterns that serve as sound absorbents and add character. Further, the Rosso panels are used as cover for glass facades, partitions, and workstation screens.