Greenworks has given architecture office General Architecture and the interior design studio Stylt Trampoli a helping hand with lush greenery in the shaping of Cecil Coworking, right in the middle of Stockholm. Hufvudstaden, one of the leading property companies in Sweden, is the client for this 3 200-square-meter all flexible coworking space that will diversify its offer of offices.
How and where we work is changing rapidly. The cubicle has almost gone out of fashion completely, while the pandemic has made the home office a both welcome and forced necessity.
But how easy is it to work among overly talkative or crying children, partners, and pets? And where to find the right kind of desk, a really ergonomic chair instead of just laying in bed with the laptop and soon enough an aching back? And then to make both the apartment and oneself proper and stylish for the next zoom meeting?
There is no doubt that working away from the office has boosted productivity (and we all hope to work less for the same wage in future like both Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes predicted), but we do crave for face-to-face contacts with both old acquaintances and new people. Co-working spaces, with no investment in a fixed office, might just be the answer to an evolving office world.
”We have focused on flexibility in use, plenty of networking, while adding a personal touch In order to offer a premium service right here in the middle of Stockholm,” says Frida Wijkström, Head of Cecil Coworking, ”there are private as well as open areas, and we have brought in both natural light and nature with a lot of green plants and a glass ceiling in the inner courtyard.” Café and bar spaces are mixed together with offices and hot-desking zones for both creative and concentrated works in diverse areas of the large space.
Frida Wijkström calls Cecil a boutique-office, and explains that the name is borrowed from just around the corner. The restaurant and dance-place Cecil became right away an evening and night hot spot when it opened in the Swedish capital a century ago. Later on in the late ’60s, the space was transformed into Alexandra, Sweden’s first modern nightclub and discotheque.
The new Cecil, which is Huvudstaden’s first co-working facility under its own management, is situated in a 1984 building at the intersection of Norrlandsgatan and Smålandsgatan. It offers open activity based lounge membership, a personal desk space, or an entire office if needed. The three levels are provided for freelancers, small companies, and of course start-ups and future unicorns that will grow from small to big, with a capacity of some 300 members in all.
Cecil Coworking offers an open space with a touch of art deco inspiration. The arcing stair looks down on an interior furnished with design favourites from Gubi with lush fabrics and marble tabletops that gives a bespoke atmosphere. A straight line of lime green dracaena plants with characteristic pointed leafs alludes to the art deco theme, while rose grape adds time specific pink flowers and friendship plants with a variation called ‘Moon Valley’, along with sickle fern offers various shades of green.
“Many have used the pandemic to cherish the outdoors,” acknowledges Per Berglund, CEO and founder of Greenworks, ”but most of us have been confined indoors with restricted access to nature. At Cecil we have created a green interior where the plants congregate in different spots.” Greenworks is responsible for a maintenance scheme that requires just a minimum of service.
”Our ambition has been to blend plants and flowers with the interior,” says Fredrik Lindén, Greenworks’ manager for design and production, ”and we have managed to source vases and other containers along with our own vertical garden solutions and of course Babylone, our hanging mini greenhouse.”
Greenworks’ next big interior project is Eden, a large office space by property developer Kungsleden in Hyllie, Malmö. We will be back with a full update in time for the opening this autumn.