Unilever
As part of the move of Unilever’s DACH corporate headquarters, a new office concept was to be created that could flexibly respond to the individual needs of employees. Unilever wanted to create a place where a new culture could emerge and where employees could freely develop and grow. On the path to agile working methods and a future-proof corporate culture, the physical workplace was to be radically transformed as the first milestone. Because culture creates space—and space creates culture.
For about a year, more than 60 voluntary employees worked in self-organized, networked working groups to design the new building. With full budget responsibility and maximum freedom to act and make decisions.
The teams were accompanied by TheDive. We were able to design, moderate, and continuously support the journey format, workshops, and feedback processes.
In the so-called “Project Neue Burg,” we embarked on a co-creative journey together with 60 voluntary employees, putting the needs of the users at the center of the redesign. Instead of presenting traditional top-down design proposals, top management handed full responsibility and decision-making freedom to a diverse team that represents and understands the workforce much better.
The process: multidisciplinary and cross-hierarchical, open-ended and agile in its governance.
Team members met at eye level and became designers themselves, taking responsibility for shaping the foundations of their new work environment—both spatially and culturally. Concretely, in Project Neue Burg, various cross-hierarchical and cross-functional teams worked together with external service providers over the course of about a year to develop solutions to questions that influenced either the new way of working or the workspace itself. Throughout the entire transformation process, participants directly tested, experienced, and further developed New Work through sprint sessions, design-thinking methods, and prototyping.
A diverse office concept with spaces for meeting and exchange as well as for concentration and inspiration. With rooms that make hybrid collaboration easier, balance home office times, and can dynamically respond to the changes of our time.
60
voluntary employees formed the project team "Kolumbus"
6500
square meters of office space were designed in this co-creative process
170
coworking seats now complement 230 individual desks
545
agile meeting and working spaces for hybrid collaboration
Furniture
All new furniture is environmentally certified, and a significant portion of the existing furniture was reused in the new spaces.
Electricity
Green electricity is used, along with the latest efficient LED lighting technology.
Food
The internal café serves only Fairtrade coffee & tea, organic products, plant-based meals, and uses reusable dishes.
Mobility
Bicycle parking replaces car parking spaces, and public transport is heavily subsidized.
Office operations
Recycled printer paper, consistent waste separation, recycled paper towels and toilet paper, and treated Hamburg tap water.
“TheDive helped us to view and develop the topics of space and culture holistically. As a result, a successful pilot emerged in which our employees didn’t just learn what New Work is in theory, but were able to experience and live it directly.”
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