Nieuwsbericht
Ahrend showroom inspires better design solutions
Netherlands 20-11-2009
Amsterdam, 19 November
The renovated showroom in the head office of Ahrend in Amsterdam – the NOW Flagship Store – serves one coordinated goal: to help clients shape their working, learning, and living environment in the best possible way.
Co_Create NOW
On the façade of the NOW Flagship Store, the new showroom of Ahrend, large letters will display the following: ‘Co_Create NOW’. Marketing & Communication Manager Remon van Rijn:”That way, we call upon our target groups to realise new designs with us. Together, we want to face the challenge to think about how organisations want to operate, how the working environments should look like, and how one should shape that into products. Thus, we focus on architects, designers, trainee designers, consultants, and clients. We want to show that we want to supply far more tailor-made products than people sometimes think. The NOW Flagship Store is designed in such a way that we can use it as a platform for dialogue.”
Experience
Experience - by means of shape, colour, and odour, the senses are incited - is the key word at that. On the first floor of the showroom, all sorts of different ‘settings’ are created. The intention thereof is to make the clients experience how they react to them. “As a result of this, clients obtain a much clearer idea on the design solution that fits their situation”, says Van Rijn. “This is a lot more efficient than the well-known paper presentations.”
According to the same pattern, the following adjustment was made. In Amsterdam, the offices of the studio and sales employees are no longer located behind closed doors either, but are visible to visitors, inside the showroom itself. Amongst others, people can work, lounge, concentrate, and hold meetings over there. This way, we demonstrate to clients how we interpret the meaning “flex working according to Ahrend”. A matter of: ‘Practice what you preach’.”
Competences
On the ground floor, Ahrend presents itself. The company displays its products against the background of the architectural and general history. It shows how it takes responsibility in terms of MVO. Also, Ahrend elaborates on its own competences. The focus at that is of course on the design of inspiring working, learning, and living environments. And of course, it is possible to become acquainted with the Ahrend furniture. “When designing the various spaces, we were inspired by the most recent views”, says Van Rijn. They can be found in the book ‘Aangetoonde effecten van het kantoorinterieur’ (Proven Effects of the Office Design) that we published in collaboration with TNO (Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific Research), which was presented during the opening of the showroom. It is the general work that covers all aspects of the design phenomenon.” The concept for the showroom was developed by 50 North 5 East and architect Luc Buelens.
New pay-off: Humanising_Spaces
With the new Flagship Store, Ahrend also introduces a new company pay-off. ‘Always ready for things to come’ is changed to ‘Humanising_Spaces’. Marketing & Communication Manager Remon van Rijn: “Everything that we do - research, design, manufacture, consult, organise - is related to the effects thereof on human beings and the environment. At product level, we supply functional and durable design; we create stimulating working, learning, and living environments; we optimise the social components. Because we know what people need in order to be able to communicate, concentrate, and excel. We tune the environment to that. That is what it is all about with ‘Humanising_Spaces’: to present people with the correct space and means.
“Ahrend attaches great value to subjects like durability, ergonomics, functionality, and beauty. But as far as we are concerned, those are not objectives in themselves. They only obtain meaning in relation to their effect on a human being. Form follows function, in this respect. Ahrend products, but especially also our services and total solutions, do not intend more or less than optimally designing working, learning, and living environments, in accordance with the needs of the people that use them. Not just once, but seen as a continuous interaction process. That is our mission."
