Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce promotes growth and business success in Helsinki region through active lobbying – developing cooperation between municipalities, public sector and business. Chamber of Commerce offers training services and a wide network of more than 7 000 business and organisational members.
The renovated premises reflect the activities of Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce – a warm and inspiring environment for collaboration and meetings
The office premises of the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, located on Kalevankatu in Helsinki, were renovated to meet the needs of hybrid work. The goal was to create a versatile work environment and event hub that would flexibly serve both personnel and member companies.
Design agency Franz Design was responsible for the spatial design of the project. Personnel moved primarily from their own rooms to a modern activity-based office. Main focus of the design and the whole project was to ensure that the new premises provide the best possible support for work, promote personnel well-being and support customer and stakeholder business.
Martela was selected as the Chamber of Commerce's loose furniture supplier through the design agency's request for proposal. As the project progressed, active dialogue between the client, the designer, and Martela enabled close collaboration, resulting in the best possible solutions tailored to the purpose of the spaces.
- Furniture by Martela and other manufacturers
- Furniture maintenance, re-upholstery and refurbishment
- Manufacturing of custom and fixed furniture
- Transportation and installation of furniture
Renovated, Finnish design, timeless style, and unique solutions
The spaces are divided into two floors – the 5th floor features an inviting, inspiring work environment for personnel. PodWork workstations, with their fixed, acoustic screens and height-adjustable desks that support ergonomics, have been particularly popular. The 2nd floor houses functional customer and stakeholder spaces. Lecture areas’ versatile Pinta tables adapt to various needs – furniture can be easily rearranged into different configurations.
"The new workspaces support modern hybrid work and encourage personnel to come to the office to work. Quality, durability, Finnish design, and timelessness were important in the furnishing," explain designers Nora Jouvenel and Venla Rautajoki.
Finnish, timeless design was already strongly present in Chamber of Commerce premises – the need to refurbish existing furniture was identified and taken into account in design. Martela managed refurbishment and maintenance of office chairs and Artek's furniture, extending the life cycle of the products. Martela's subsidiary, Kidex Oy, custom-made some storage units for spaces, as well as impressive solid wood conference tables and a library storage unit with integrated lighting.
Muted colours used in the interior are from Chamber of Commerce's brand colour palette, while the warm atmosphere is created by real wood surfaces. In addition to Martela's furniture, the premises feature products from Lepo, Vitra, HAY, Pedral and &Tradition.
Despite the project's tight overall schedule, presentations of furniture solutions, maintenance of existing furniture, furniture deliveries, and installations were handled reliably and according to the agreed timelines.
"Martela was an excellent partner in this project. Special praise goes to our contact person – they were always ready to help and knew how to provide exactly the right options to match the interior designer's plans. Implementation went like a dream, everything was done on time and the end result is exactly what we hoped for: we now have fantastic spaces where it's a pleasure to work and organise events", summarises Max Moiseev, Chief Information Officer.
