As part of the relocation of Unilever's DACH headquarters, a new office concept was developed to flexibly respond to the individual needs of employees. Unilever aimed to create a place where a new culture could emerge, allowing employees to unfold and develop freely. On the path towards agile working methods and a sustainable corporate culture, the physical workspace was targeted as the first milestone for radical transformation. Because culture shapes space, and space shapes culture.

For over a year, more than 60 voluntary employees worked in self-organized, interconnected working groups to design the new building. They had full budget responsibility and maximum autonomy in decision-making and actions.

Throughout this process, TheDive accompanied the teams, designing, moderating, and continuously supporting the journey format, workshops, and feedback processes.

In "Project Neue Burg," we embarked on a co-creative journey with 60 voluntary employees, placing the users' needs at the forefront of the redesign efforts. Instead of presenting top-down design proposals in the traditional sense, top management delegated full responsibility and decision-making authority to a diverse team that better represents and understands the needs of the workforce.

The Process: Multidisciplinary and Cross-functional, Non-hierarchical, and Agile in Management.

Team members collaborated on an equal footing, becoming designers themselves responsible for shaping the foundations of their new work environment—both spatially and culturally. Specifically, in Project Neue Burg, various teams worked collaboratively across hierarchies and functions with external service providers over approximately one year to develop solutions addressing either new work methods or workspace requirements. Throughout the entire transformation process, participants engaged in sprint sessions, utilized design-thinking methods, and prototyped New Work directly, testing and evolving their approaches.