Horisont Arkitekter in historic factory building

The fully refurbished former industrial building Trikåfabriken in Malmö has become a popular office environment for the city’s creative businesses. Horisont Arkitekter has moved in, and Troldtekt is part of the architects’ own office design.

Horisont Arkitekter moved into its new Malmö office in September 2022, located at Trikåfabriken – the former industrial building fully refurbished by Stena Fastigheter and FOJAB. Here, the first phase is rented out to both new and established businesses in the creative industry.

Horisont Arkitekter undertook its own new office design, streamlined with the rest of the office landscape in the building – but with a twist, and adapted to their needs.

In terms of design, preserving the original details has been nicely balanced with a modern office landscape. Among other things, the old windows have been preserved – though retrofitted with insulation – and so are the sloping beams on the long side of the office, which stretches 28 metres. In addition, certain installations and pipes remain visible, helping to preserve the industrial styling.

Wavy wall

Two different Troldtekt acoustic solutions have been selected for ceilings and walls. The ceiling surface is classic white acoustic panels with integrated lighting. As a partition between office spaces and a kitchenette, a ‘wavy’ wall has been built, clad with Troldtekt tiles design solution, also in white.

“Since the kitchenette is located in the middle of the office landscape, we set out to create a good soundscape and ensure a good acoustic working environment; in other words, function without compromising on design.  We designed a wavy wall covered with acoustic panels to separate the kitchenette from the workstations. Having a rounded wall was important to our design concept, so we wanted acoustic panels that could be bent. Troldtekt acoustic panels quickly came into play because of the materials and the great way of combining form and function,” says Kristina Forsler Sjögren, architect SAR/MSA, Horisont Arkitekter.

Troldtekt tiles – a unifying effect

Troldtekt tiles produce a design with a pattern of rectangles of various sizes. The solution consists of square acoustic panels with milled parallel grooves in the surface. A half groove has been cut on all sides of each panel, so that an extra groove of the same size is formed where two panels join.  

“We’re delighted with the result! The office has a pleasant soundscape, and the grooves in the panels create a vibrant surface that produces a beautiful interplay of shadows. We’ve combined five different pattern variants with rectangular fields of different sizes. The milled lines make the surface seem continuous, making the panel joints disappear as if by magic,” says Kristina Forsler Sjögren.

Both Troldtekt solutions help to ensure pleasant acoustics for the architects and the designs work together with the overall light-coloured styling, interspersed with black wooden fixtures.”

A burgeoning business area

Stena Fastigheter began the development of parts of the old Trikåfabriken, in the heart of Malmö, at the beginning of 2020. The goal was to preserve the character and soul of the building, now transformed into a modern workplace with flexible office solutions.