Unilever in AIR Offices

Unilever on Ahrend

‘Unilever has partnered with Ahrend as our furniture supplier for more than a decade. Ahrend is one of our preferred global partners, and we truly value the dedication shown by both the company and its Circular Hub. In projects like this one, they carefully evaluate the condition of our existing furniture and repurposed to extend the useful life. Thanks to this approach, we were able to reuse many of our desks and office chairs when moving to our new AIR Office location.

We are also pleased that Ahrend can now quantify furniture related CO₂ savings achieved through this project. Across the full furnishing scope of AIR Offices, we realized a 53% reduction in furniture-related CO₂ emissions.

It’s fantastic to work with partners who, like Unilever, embed sustainability into everything they do.’

Praveen Sharma, Global PMO Lead Unilever

High sustainability ambitions 

In designing the new office, Patrick Levie, partner at Fokkema & Partners, was inspired by Unilever's high sustainability ambitions: reusing circular materials and furniture as much as possible, while maintaining the lowest possible ecological footprint. 'We have created a variety of work, lounge and meeting rooms with repurposed workstations and wooden frames, surrounded by plants and art around the clustered office pods. The frames are custom-made and reusable. The greenery provides a natural and playful look. The view over Rotterdam and the abundant daylight enhance the atmosphere in the building.'

Maximum reuse

Maximum reuse was central to the design of the AIR Offices. The selection of materials and workplaces used went relatively smoothly, because Ahrend and Fokkema & Partners had previously worked together on the Unilever office in Wageningen. The architect was pleasantly surprised by the good condition of the furniture.
'The materials are of such high quality that the furniture can last for many years to come thanks to the timeless and circular design.'
Rob Grimberg, account manager at Ahrend: 'Together, we carefully assessed each piece of furniture and decided whether it was suitable for the AIR Offices.'

53% reduction in CO₂ emissions from furniture

713 pieces of furniture were still as good as new and could be reused unchanged. 420 pieces of furniture have been refurbished in the Circular Hub. Rob: 'Examples of this are the refurbished Ahrend 2020 office chairs and a number of table tops of the Ahrend Balance desks that have been reduced in size. Refurbishment has significantly extended the life of the furniture. Moreover, at the furniture level, we have achieved a CO₂ reduction of no less than 53% compared to complete replacement with new furniture.'

Biophilic design

All 14 Ahrend Qabins from the former office have also moved to the new location, to which a number of new ones have been added. The architect has positioned these acoustic office pods in a unique way: behind planters and curtains in natural colour tones. Patrick: 'In addition to the circular design requirements, we applied biophilic design principles: we created a working environment inspired by nature. We have integrated the human need for connection with nature into the AIR Offices. Biophilic design improves the well-being of users, reduces stress and increases productivity through the use of plants, natural light and organic shapes. "An inspiring project," says Rob.