Aker

Project Lohko Box Lohko Picea

At a glance

Product(s)

Lohko Box
Lohko Picea

Industry

Energy / oil & gas industry

Country

Norway

Creating a future-ready workspace

In the wake of rapid growth following a corporate merger, Aker faced a scattered office landscape with six separate locations in Stavanger. This fragmentation made collaboration and cultural unity difficult. Their vision: a single, sustainable, human-centric headquarters that would reflect their values and support flexible, hybrid work.

“Instead of creating fixed ‘home bases’ for every team, we wanted everyone to have access to the same high-quality environment. Everything had to be flexible, consistent, and future-proof,” said Thor Inge Bollestad of Aker.

The Gnist project was initiated by Aker BP and Aker Solutions as part of their long-term strategy to consolidate operations and create a unified, future-oriented workplace. Following rapid growth after a corporate merger in 2016, the companies found themselves spread across six separate office locations in Stavanger. This fragmentation prompted the need for a new headquarters that would support collaboration, hybrid work, and long-term flexibility.

Developed in partnership with Zinc Interior Architects and Senab Eikeland, Gnist was conceived as a 70,000 m² office complex divided into two buildings — East and West — with space for over 3,000 employees. From the beginning, the vision emphasized sustainability, acoustic quality, and a consistent experience for all employees, regardless of department or role. The result is a WELL-certified, BREEAM-Nor Excellent office built for adaptability, wellness, and high performance.

Solution

Flexibility without walls

The Gnist office eliminated the need for built-in support rooms and fixed offices. Instead, over 200 Taiga workspaces — from compact one-person workspaces to 3–4-person meeting rooms — were used to structure the open-plan layout. These spaces were placed in central "Taiga Villages" as Bollestad calls the flexible modular room solutions, within each 22-meter-wide office section, ensuring all units received natural light and could be accessed easily. Taiga was the clear choice of the employees, who were involved in the selection process, by testing and voting on different solutions.

This approach wasn’t just aesthetic. When looking at the bigger picture, we avoided the need for additional fire safety measures and allowed the space to evolve over time. “Why build fixed rooms when we can create flexible ones that can be moved, reused, or reconfigured later?” Bollestad added.

Design collaboration & vision

Zinc shaped the space around comfort, light, and flexibility. Instead of rigid zoning, workspaces were used to choreograph the flow of people, offering soft divisions between work neighbourhoods and central collaboration areas. The result is a workspace that feels calm, spacious, and connected.

“Taiga pods helped structure the space without sacrificing openness or daylight. They work as acoustical buffers and create visual separation between different teams,” explained Guri Mo from Zinc.

Impact

A Human-centered office that works

The Taiga workspaces are now an integral part of daily life at Aker. Employees use them constantly — especially the one-person units (3m2 Picea)— for focused work and hybrid meetings. Thanks to integration with Cisco Spaces and Outlook, Aker tracks usage data, showing that workspaces are in use over 70% of the time on average.

Office attendance increased significantly, rising from 50–60% to 70–80% after the move — a clear sign that the new environment is working. Feedback has been positive across the board, particularly about the indoor air quality and acoustic comfort.

“Many were sceptical about changing the workplace concept, but now they don’t want to go back,” said Mo. “It feels like a real upgrade – in materials, in functionality, and in the mood of the space”.