A New Working Environment for Internet Consultants Tankebolaget

Internet consultants, Tankebolaget, have got a completely new working environment, with mobility and flexibility. When they moved premises recently, the company invested in a "total solution".

"We were located in a small office in central Gamla Stan", says John Ray, MD of Tankebolaget. The company develops Internet systems mainly for telecoms, banking and financial companies.

"The office was charming, with sloping skylights and a traditional style, but it didn't comply with our working requirements".

The search for a new office began, together with architects Magnus Stahl and Erik Andersson.

After a while they found office space. The charming style of the old office was totally lacking in the new one -- at least when first looking at it. "The office space was dreadful", says John Ray.

"It was divided into small rooms, with old carpets covering the floors. The only positive thing were the large windows that let in a lot of daylight. The architects told us that there were beautiful arches in the original ceiling, hidden behind the suspended ceiling. Their advice was to strip everything out and start again."

Tankebolaget did as the architects said, and used raised floors, with the floor void housing all electrical, voice and data and other services. They also decided to strip out the ceiling to finally reveal the beautiful arched ceilings and give the room a more spacious feel.

"We needed a flexible office since we mainly work in project groups which we split up into smaller groups every now and then".

In June last year, Tankebolaget, with its approximately 20 employees moved into their new flexible office. Since then, the office layout has changed numerous times.

"That is what makes it so perfect, the fact that we can change our office without needing any outside help. We move project groups and change our electrical and networking sockets without any difficulties. The problem with so-called mobile offices, is that it is very easy to move everything around, but much more difficult to actually locate the electrical and network connections," says John Ray.

Compared to other consultant companies where the consultants actually go to the client, Tankebolaget works with their project groups at the office. In addition to this, all employees spend one day a week undertaking personal development courses, which means the employees spend a lot of time in the office.

"That is why the company invested in a good ergonomic and functional office, from height adjustable furniture to a good indoor climate-it is important for us to keep a comfortable environment." "In the beginning, we were a bit afraid that our clients would be put off by the way our office has been designed; maybe they would think that we were a company purely interested in outward appearances."

"Our clients' reactions were the complete opposite. They think our office breathes professionalism and we come across as a company that thoroughly thinks through things before getting started," says a very satisfied John Ray.