As the rude rebel of the automotive industry, Lynk & Co sets out to do things…differently. The head office in Gothenburg, Sweden, is no exception. When entering the brutalist headquarters, you’re immediately struck by the out-of-this-world aesthetics. The crude concrete floor, the dotted centerpiece sofa, the giant smiley face that bursts through the wall. And in the far back – the 01 car. It’s a creative mix of the raw and the elaborate, with a constant element of surprise.
“Lynk & Co is here to disrupt the automotive industry, not to align with it. Having a boring office is out of the question. It needs to be wow! If we don’t live and work in a non-conformist fashion, then we’re not truthful to the brand. It’s all about honesty and authenticity. We must stay true to the vision, and it must permeate everything from the offer to the office. I think our design team has outdone themselves,” said Alain Visser, CEO at Lynk & Co.
Wrong in just the right way
“Urban traces” has been a mantra for Lynk & Co’s design team and the local, Gothenburg based, New Order Arkitektur firm when choosing sustainable materials, picking out the re-used office furniture and creating the interior. The spaces were designed to feel lived-in. As if they already had a history. And in a sense, they do.
When putting up the concrete walls the team told the craftsmen to leave their measurements and scribbles on the walls and stop before they were done. Looking at the walls now, they still bare traces of the design process. And that’s the point. Doing things differently to inspire the creative minds that work there.
“When picking out the floor for the building, we really got on the contractor’s nerves. Whichever floor they showed us, it was too neat. Too nice-looking. We wanted raw. And when they took us to a warehouse to show what a botched concrete floor looked like, we fell in love. For them it was wrong. For us, it was wrong in just the right way,” said Alain Visser.
The interior space was designed by Lynk & Co’s own design team and New Order Arkitektur, and the art is made by the Swedish artist EKTA. It was recently awarded Gold for Best Interior Design at the Architecture Collection awards.
