E.On Headquarters

In 2017, Kanozi was selected for a parallel assignment. E.ON was to build a new Nordic headquarters in central Malmö. It needed to be big enough for 1500 employees and, most importantly, all environments had to be designed with full focus on human well-being. When completed, all employees would have been happy and felt good there. So good that they would have preferred going to the office than working from home.

E.ON's headquarters is certified according to Breeam Outstanding and Well Platinum, a new international building standard that takes into account people's well-being at work. The Well standard is based on seven concepts that affect health: air, water, light, sound, diet, exercise and well-being. Here, everyone should be able to feel and perform well and stay healthy.

The idea of gathering all employees from E.ON's three Malmö offices in the same building is to create a greater sense of togetherness. Everyone should be close to each other. Therefore, there are no fixed workplaces in the new building. Those who want to sit together. Those who need to withdraw to work in a more secluded and undisturbed environment can take a seat in the library.

The same idea is reflected in everything. From floor to ceiling, on every floor and in all the furnishings. There is a restaurant on the ground floor where everyone is welcome, including visitors from the street. But there are no entrances to the different departments. Everyone working in the building goes up to the common lunch room at the top of the building when it's time to eat. This is to ensure that the team-building staff culture is nourished as much as possible.

Building a building for 1500 people on the oblong plot in the center of Malmö was a challenge. In order for the large building to fit into the emerging cityscape, Kanozi designed two softly shaped buildings that meet each other in a high glass section.

The different materials of the façade – such as S.Anselmo Sk1n terracotta cladding, in a contemporary grey tone – alternate as variations on a theme, with waists that curve in and green balconies that stand out. It is one building, but is perceived from the outside as several.