More collaboration among the individual departments in favour of a new project culture – the creation of a new office layout at Metrohm AG in Herisau, Switzerland, took place under this banner.

The concept

The growing complexity of projects prompted the Management Board in 2015 to form a new footing for the interdisciplinary collaboration among the development, production and marketing departments. After all, as a manufacturer of highly precise instruments for chemical analysis, Metrohm AG in Herisau, Switzerland, is forced to quickly react to new market challenges and developments. “We created interdisciplinary project teams whose members come from the different departments,” says Patrick Hunziker, Head of Product Development, explaining the background situation.

With the newly created structures, however, also follows a breakdown in the organisational barriers within the offices. The planned addition to the development building, the new 4th floor, has not been outfitted with traditional workstations and single-person offices, but instead features an office layout consisting of various open-space workstations and conference areas. Spanning a space of 1,190 square metres, the new office layout accommodates six project teams of nine employees each and has open and interactive project zones as well as dedicated conference zones.

Before the new offices on the 4th floor at Metrohm AG were built, Patrick Hunziker and his team visited companies such as UBS, AXA Winterthur and Google to gain inspiration from the future-centred office space solutions there. The new offices were ready to accommodate employees in early 2016. “Following an initial scepticism, our employees today highly appreciate the new office layout and the opportunity to be able to work together as a project team over a longer period of time in the same office space,” says Patrick Hunziker.

The specialists from Total Office Management and Lista Office LO planned, coordinated and realised the new offices for the project teams – from the design and furnishing concept to the acoustics and lighting to the use of partner brands. Patrick Hunziker was happy to be part of the joint development phase: “The teamwork was optimal for us. We challenged one other.”

On a space of 1,190 square metres, the flexible office furnishings – with the LO Extend tables, the LO Mindport furniture and the LO Locker cupboard system from Lista Office LO – support successful collaboration within the project teams and ensure high transparency.