In the bustling city streets of downtown Helsinki in Finland, a company called Fraktio has chosen to work with design and architectural teams at Franz Designs to create a new office space that will make their employees feel right at home while they work.
Fraktio, a company that designs innovative web services and mobile applications, made the decision to renovate with the goal of offering their employees a quiet space that comes across just cozy enough for them to feel like they’re right at home but still engaged and motivated enough for productive work.
From the beginning, designers oriented their focus around the concept of creating a space where people might actually want to spend time. The office is supposed to feel less like a place where people have to be and more like a place where they might actually enjoy hanging out with the people around them.
In their industry, the concept of overtime work is no stranger to any employee. Hours are fluid and schedules change frequently, so people often find themselves working at varying times of day. This was the primary motivation behind making the brand new offices feel like a place of comfort and easy socialization as well as work. Ideally, no one will feel “chained” to their desk and people might perform better because they enjoy their job and the space they’re working in.
In order to achieve their homey end goal, designers gave the office all kinds of thoughtful but quite low maintenance extra features, choosing to create spaces that might provide either relaxation or mental stimulation between tasks. In short, the Fraktio Offices have just about everything you could possibly need, right there near your work station!
Among these unique and frankly awesome special features is a panorama sauna where employees can seek quiet and calm, a DIY space where they can explore their creative side, and even an old fashioned style movie theatre where they can get a bit of inspiration or simply give their brains a break through sheer entertainment right there at work.
In order to keep a sense of balance in the space and build an environment that fosters productivity at the heart of things, designers also made sure to provide Fraktio with all kinds of diverse and thoughtfully put together spaces geared towards work itself. These include several different meeting places large enough to comfortably gather the entire staff at once for meetings and collaborative efforts.
The main group meeting space is the kitchen and dining area (which, like most other spots, are fully equipped with just about everything your own home might offer). The kitchen area is spacious and communal, fully equipped for any type of cooking or meal prep. The dining area, on the other side of the kitchen island, blends seamlessly into a lounge space. This means that a speaker can be heard all around while employees sit in comfort no matter where they’re situated.
Perhaps the most widely used unique feature of the whole office, in terms of those spaces designed to clear ones mind and give them a fresh start part way through their day, is the sauna. This is a fully functioning steam room, sitting in the centre of the office building on the 8th floor. Its position here means that, besides warmth and relaxation, the sauna also offers a breathtaking view!
Photos by Vuokko Salo.
