Communal spaces for a rapidly growing tech company
Wolt’s office at Arkadia n:o 6 is the home of lively corporate culture: the first thing you see upon entering is the welcoming shared lounge and event space with its soft couches and iconic Coca Cola fridges. The atmosphere is at the same time modern and cosy. The place is perfect for relaxed get-togethers. The impressive look and feel is a combination of home-like elements, such as wood panelling on the walls and natural colours, and statement details and graphics that are part of Wolt’s brand identity. Not everything was purchased as new: many of the existing furniture and luminaires were used in the space, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.
The new office promotes an industrious start-up spirit
The food delivery tech company Wolt was established in 2014, and its growth has been exceptionally rapid since its inception. When its old office started to feel small, Wolt turned its eyes to the neighbouring Arkadia n:o 6 property. Rune & Berg Design was one of the companies involved in the renovation of Arkadia n:o 6. The client wanted an office that would accommodate its growth and functional needs, support communality and be suitable for events. They wanted the space to reflect an industrious start-up spirit and contribute to creating a recognisable employee experience and corporate culture. “The Wolt office is like a second home for the employees. The focus is on promoting a laid-back atmosphere and communal spirit,” says Roosa Westerman, Interior Architect, describing the target of the project.
The project was guided by the following design drivers that were specified with the client:
- Meeting place, also during free time
- Strengthening the sense of community
- Attractive and cosy space for working
The new Wolt nest is located on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Arkadia n:o 6 property in Kamppi, which was fully renovated in 2020. The floor area of over 3,000 m2 supports a sense of community and encounters across team borders. Rune & Berg Design was responsible for the interior architecture design of the project. “The Wolt office is almost entirely located on one floor, which means you can walk around the whole space. The layout emphasises the Wolt ideology of being one big family”, Riina Ruska, Lead Designer for the project says, describing the functionality of the property.
Photos: Aleksi Tikkala
“The new Wolt office really feels like a home. It is layered, and its scale is typical of homes. The wood panelling, beautiful pendant lights and soft textiles create a warm atmosphere."
Riina Ruska, Lead Designer, Rune & Berg Design
Cosy place for relaxed get-togethers
The space needed to adapt to different situations and needs. For example, the shared lounge at the heart of the office serves both as a lunch and break room during the workday and as an event space in the evenings. The large kitchen, bar, and games – such as a billiards table and pinball machine – ensure good times from dawn till dusk and in between. The lounge is separated from the working spaces with sound-proofed walls so that its more casual use of voice will not disturb work. The customer journey and data security were also taken into account when building the spatial experience: “The Wolt team is super-casual, also in terms of the office dress code, and everyone has a hands-on approach to work. At the same time, Wolt is also a world-class IT company that must take data security into consideration in everything it does,” Riina says. “We thought carefully about where the people with the most confidential duties should sit and where customers are allowed to enter,” Roosa adds.
The main design driver at the workspaces was enabling future growth. The office has a dedicated area for tasks that require concentration with ergonomic workstations, meeting rooms and quiet corners of different sizes and, of course, the shared lounge that is also suitable for tasks that require less concentration. The meeting rooms are located at the edges of the office and the work desks in the open space to enable changing their locations and number, as needed. To make the space more comfortable, the height of the 1960s space was maximised by leaving some of the technical elements uncovered.
Wolt is happy with its new modern and cosy office. The functional and adaptable space improves comfort and makes work more fun.
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