a:place, Castellum’s new boutique offices, open the doors to a completely new workplace concept in Kista. Offering a holistic approach for the modern worker, Castellum’s a:place has decided to go from "work-life balance" to "life balance". Everyone who works, visits and lives in Kista is welcome. It's time to get to a:place!
With words like "Imagine if your workplace was a little more like a second home" and "A place that facilitates your everyday life and sees you as a whole person, not just your professional role", Castellum sparked our curiosity. It's time to check it out for ourselves, so I ask for a pre-opening sneak peek. After parking my bike in the bike room (and noting there are also charging points in the garage), I step into a leafy entryway. A fire crackles lightly in the open lounge, it really does feel homely.
“We want you to feel at home at work,” says Carl-Michael Augustsson, Business Developer at Castellum. “That’s why we have created a:place. We like to call it a boutique office and we offer everything you could possibly need for modern working life.”
The office of the future is here in Kista
The new boutique office is part of the billion-kronor investment underway to make the entire Kista district more vibrant for everyone who works and lives here. In a:place, Castellum has developed something much more than just a workplace. They have created a state-of-the-art full-service building and a completely new self-created workplace concept.
“It was in 2018, when a larger tenant moved from the property, that we saw the opportunity to think afresh and create a modern concept for the office of the future. We asked ourselves what the market was missing and what we could do to meet future tenants' expectations of a workplace. And now we have a:place,” says Business Area Manager Robert de la Motte.
Symbiotic Concept – symbiosis between building and people
The idea with a:place and Symbiotic Concept is to take a holistic approach to the modern working person. To make people's everyday lives easier, a place has been created that will accommodate both progress and life balance. Here, there will always be someone who can help with things you can’t always get to, like looking after your dog, ordering groceries or booking a taxi. And with both a gym and a yoga studio, everything is set to ensure you can get some important movement into your everyday life. Other things you will find within the walls of a:place include a visitor service, package handling, meeting center with conference room, office hotel with co-working space, Friday bag, catering, lunch, breakfast, AW, bicycles, laundry service, podcast studio, Friday bouquet... it’s all very impressive, they actually seem to have thought of most things that could make everyday life flow more smoothly. You can even get help washing your car and changing the tyres!
“A life becomes nothing if you’re not living it. We no longer believe in separating eight hours of work, eight hours of leisure and eight hours of sleep. We must be able to integrate life over all 24 hours of the day,” says Carl-Michael Augustsson. “We believe that our work lives will increasingly resemble our private lives and want to make it easier for more people to live life.”
“We futureproof our offer with the Symbiotic Concept. With this concept, we transform the office into an inclusive place for all an individual's needs, not just work-related ones. We really believe in moving from work–life balance to life balance. And we want to contribute to as many people as possible feeling that their working day is a fun part of life,” says Victoria Ströby, Marketing Manager, Castellum.
Carl-Michael Augustsson, Business Developer at Castellum
In addition to snappy service, the property is filled with smart technology. a:place is also imbued with biophilia, which means integrating vegetation and organic forms into the building. It's not just because it's nice and blurs the lines between inside and outside, research also shows that biophilic design increases people's well-being and creativity as well as productivity. Biophilia is one of Symbiotic Concept's four cornerstones – along with health, smart technology and service.
Comfortable and durable
a:place has a total area of just over 10,000 square meters and the property is LEED GOLD sustainably certified. The building is divided into zones with different tempos and sound levels. Great focus has been placed on creating both pleasant and sustainable environments that welcome both work and relaxation. There should be spaces for all kinds of meetings and you should be able to work undisturbed and focuses, in the buzz of social interaction or in the leafy oasis of the orangery. Two-thirds of the property is already leased.
The Shared:place
As one of Sweden's largest listed real estate companies, Castellum wants to do more than create tomorrow's innovative workplaces, it also strives for an approach that is inclusive of the area it is operating in. This can be about anything from introducing more greenery into street environments to improving communications to expanding the range of services. The focus is to create environments with conditions that can help people grow and companies develop.
“We believe in the future and see a:place as an important link in the upgrade of Kista,” says Carl-Michael Augustsson. “The next step is to develop the common area together with our neighboring properties, which today mostly consists of a large parking lot. We want to create an interesting and welcoming meeting place. Maybe we can make room for a farmer's market or some art and culture. We call it the Shared:place.”
A place for everyone
With a:place, Castellum also wants to take on a wider social responsibility in Kista and therefore welcomes everyone in the district. So it's not just those who work in the building who will get to enjoy everything at a:place. Here, you and I are equally welcome to work out, have a coffee, order a packed lunch or maybe a Friday bag, meet for an AW or whatever takes your fancy.
“For our tenants, a basic service is always included in the rent,” says Carl-Michael Augustsson. “And of course, they have discounts on add-ons.”
Grand opening party
It's time for us to say welcome to Kista's new destination and meeting place! You will find a:place at Torshamnsgatan 27. There is a lot of buzz about an upcoming big opening party, after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Maybe this will be your:place…
