Innovative, user-friendly technology at the heart of collaboration
The consultation
"Our ambition was to create modern and flexible facilities that fulfill our commitment to our customers, while at the same time providing a pleasant working environment for our colleagues. Based on the original building, we had the opportunity to influence the design throughout the process. We had many visions and requests. It felt good to have the security provided by experienced consultants from Kinly, who were part of the process from the outset,” says Miriam.
It was Stein Arne Skartveit from Kinly, who contacted Storebrand and the SKAGEN Funds when he came across the project in Bykronen. He could see that Kinly’s consultancy services would be useful for a project of this scale.
“Kinly has designed the audio visual solutions and helped choose the information management systems. With the delivery scheduled to be finalised at the end of the year, there was a lot to squeeze in to finish on time, " says Stein Arne.
"We wanted premises that were adapted to our organisation so that we could once again meet our customers’ needs the way we wanted to. This was a large and important project, making good advice from the start crucial," says Miriam.
The solution
Storebrand and the SKAGEN Funds wanted an activity-based workplace with most employees working from an open plan office. Quiet rooms to participate in a video meeting alone or concentrate on a particular task were a consideration. Several rooms are equipped for users to bring their personal laptops and easily connect to a screen with a camera, microphone and speakers.
“In that way, you can also hold high-quality video meetings outside the meeting rooms," says Stein Arne.
The newly renovated building is fitted with state-of-the art technology, but when you enter the various rooms, it's the aesthetics that strike you. Nothing is left to chance here; everything is characterised by the interaction between different disciplines.
Following recommendations from Kinly’s consultants, the building was set up with a centralised infrastructure. This means that all audio and, to some extent, images, can be controlled from one location. Different sound zones can be created from one and the same location, with customised playlists for the cafeteria and toilets, for example.
Innovation and aesthetics
“At Storebrand’s head offices in Lysaker, a staircase unifies the building. There they have a projector and a projection screen where they broadcast the group's general meetings, among other things. With that in mind, we gave the challenge to Kinly and asked them to come up with a proposal that was customised to our unique building. We had envisioned a projection screen ourselves, or a configuration of 98-inch LCD displays; we were open to ideas, says Miriam.
"Our solution designer quickly realised that a screen would not work well here. He suggested LED walls from Sharp NEC instead. LED is a modular technology, which in this project gave Storebrand and the SKAGEN Funds the flexibility they needed to fill the available space with two large and customised image surfaces," says Trond Dyrnes from Sharp NEC. "The installation provides a good visual boost. Combined with the long lifespan of LED technology it meets today's increasing demand for sustainability. We focus on product reliability and durability, which is reflected in the quality we deliver," says Trond.
User friendly technology
It was important to Kinly, Storebrand and the SKAGEN Funds that all solutions were user-friendly and intuitive. With a few keystrokes, you can connect to screens in exquisite meeting rooms, with hidden cables and solutions that, to everyone's delight, do nothing but work.
“Both Storebrand and the SKAGEN Funds have offices across the country. The pandemic taught us the importance of seamless integration and hybrid meetings across locations," says Miriam.
"Meetings are held on the Microsoft Teams platform. Both regular video meetings and presentations are held on the LED walls in the staircase. This means that the threshold for organising and participating in meetings is very low - you just press the Join button on the touch panel, and everything happens automatically," says Stein Arne.
"For us, good partners have been crucial to the success of the project. We have a lot of expertise in the organisation, but when you put these forces together with professionals who have cutting-edge expertise in their areas, the result is excellent," says Miriam.
