Client projects: Sparbanken Skaraborg

A comprehensive journey of change

In connection with extensive branding work, Sparbanken Skaraborg’s offices in Skara, Vara, Götene and Nossebro were to undergo a total renovation. The aim was to create attractive workplaces where the focus is on meeting the customer, and all employees have the same conditions to do a good job. With a tight timetable of two years and a business that had to be able continue as usual, there were tough demands on collaboration between all parties involved – construction company, architect, customer and Kinnarps.

New way of working, new spaces

Much has changed in a short period of time for Sparbanken Skaraborg’s employees, because the new spaces also brought a new way of working. Before the renovation, some had their own rooms and others did not, so employees had different conditions to do their job. They have now made the move to an activity-based way of working, with a clean desk policy, which allows employees to choose a workplace based on the activity they are to perform.

Patrik Meijer, CEO of Sparbanken Skaraborg, explains that major changes like this always meet a certain level of resistance, but that it did not last long in this case. "In the first few months, a few people were sceptical about the new way of working, but now everyone thinks this is the best workplace in the world!” He says that day-to-day work is much better in the new spaces, especially cooperation and skills transfer.

Customer meetings in focus

There were many underlying reasons for the renovations. These included improving the quality of the spaces used for customer meetings, which is a key element of Sparbanken Skaraborg’s business. Before the renovations, there were not enough meeting spaces, so meetings had to be held in open spaces that were not adapted for the occasionally sensitive sharing of information – which created a sense of insecurity for both customers and employees. So, when the new spaces were designed, great emphasis was placed on creating spaces where both employees and customers can have peace of mind, whether the meeting is physical or digital.

The common thread

One guiding principle for the project was to create a cohesive feel in all offices. Lena Berthou, Project Manager at Sparbanken Skaraborg, highlights the physical environment as an important feature of the brand. Lena explains the idea behind the design concept:

Reference groups a key to success

If a journey of change is to succeed, involvement is required. In the case of Sparbanken Skaraborg, this meant forming a number of reference groups. A reference group of representatives from all four offices participated in the process of shaping the interior design concept. Another group focused on storage solutions, while a third group worked on various technical solutions for the offices.

With support from Kinnarps, the working groups were able to test and evaluate different solutions to find the right one. Lena Berthou explains that it has been worth the effort to take care when choosing furniture and solutions. "We’ve taken it step by step, fine-tuning a little along the way. For example, we were able to halve the number of metres of shelving after evaluating different storage solutions!", she explains.

Success through listening and problem-solving

Lena Berthou looks back on a successful project and confirms that it all went amazingly well, given the complexity of the project. She explains that Kinnarps, architect firm AB05 and Sparbanken Skaraborg were in dialogue every day during parts of the project. Something that she believes was crucial to the success of the project.

Patrik Meijer is also very pleased with the result. "People who come here are impressed by the outcome we’ve achieved. The new meeting rooms are particularly appreciated – by both customers and employees, who have now all been given the same good conditions to do their job."