KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Finland. It is an international engineering and service company with a century-old history. After entering the Chinese market in 1996, KONE built its world’s largest production and R&D base in Kunshan with its strongest R&D capabilities, and has one of the world’s highest elevator test towers there.
That’s where VIRTUARCH and its expertise in workspace design enters the scene. The Swiss architecture firm was commissioned by KONE to provide interior design and realize it in cooperation with a local decoration company. The 3,000 sqm office in the vicinity of their factory will mainly accommodate employees responsible for corporate financial affairs. KONE aims at realizing contemporary workplaces integrating co-working spaces to see more vitality in this centennial brand.
Combine Trending Co-Working Spaces and Traditional Financial Back Offices
In line with the global vision, KONE is implementing new office concepts with co-working spaces. VIRTUARCH proposed combining the heavy industry and Scandinavian background of KONE with an urban and fashionable touch as part of the design concept. With reference to the design guidelines of the KONE headquarters, VIRTUARCH developed an office layout combining traditional workspaces and co-working spaces. These shared spaces allow for a more collaborative and agile work process and contribute greatly to the wellbeing of KONE’s employees, which is a key concern for KONE as an international employer with high corporate social responsibility standards.