Furnishing design Ingrid Hustoft
Oslo, Norway, 2022
Evolve is the largest company in renting flexible office space in Oslo. They have over 25 office centers in Oslo, Telemark and Vestfold, Viken and Rogaland. They are specialists in providing modern and flexible offices. Sustainability is key when choosing locations, premises, office design, furniture and fittings.

KIME is an offshoot of the Evolve concept which embraces tenants from start-ups, scale-ups along with established authorities within sustainability and innovation. Larger and smaller companies work together to find synergy with a common goal: a greener future.

In February of 2022 Evolve started a dialog with Business Manager Pia Sander from Martela about their exciting idea to color the office premises in Galleri Oslo. The objective was to transform the building’s rough appearance and almost ghostlike atmosphere into something totally different. Galleri Oslo was constructed in 1988 and was Europe’s longest indoor shopping street at that time. In later years it has been named the ugliest building in Oslo and has been a headache in the never-ending debate of whether it should be restored or demolished. It was therefore crucial to breathe new life into the office premises and transform them into a dynamic environment with room for inspiration and synergy effects! And with focus on sustainability and reuse.

The offices of Galleri Oslo consist of many small offices that together accommodate 160 workstations, meeting rooms, nap rooms, multi-purpose rooms and quiet rooms.

KOI Colour Studio got the great task of choosing the colours for the floors, ceiling and walls with different colour schemes and identities for each room. Martela's Interior Architect Ingrid Hustoft and Key Account Manager Tine Bernthon were given the task of thoughtfully selecting both new and existing furniture that had to be in line with the sustainability criteria of the concept. Majority of the furniture have the sustainability and responsibility label Möbelfakta. (Möbelfakta is an independent type 1 ecolabel. You can find all Martela products with Möbelfakta label from its homepage.)

Martela’s Workplace as a Service (WaaS) model was in key role in the partnership. Flexibility and predictability were among the criteria set by KIME. In addition, the WaaS model is based on circular economy making it a sustainable and flexible choice. The work environments are always up-to-date even if the needs change.