OHOI!
(OSLO HOUSE OF INNOVATION)
"THE COWORKING SPACE FOR STARTUP-INVESTORS AND THEIR RELATED STARTUPS"
OHOI - Oslo House of Innovation is a 4000sqm building dedicated to innovation, located in Oslo, Skippergata 22.
This is an environment where investors can come with their portfolio of startups to shape an area and work closely with the people they believe in.
It is an environment with a mix of innovation, competence and capital that will accelerate their shared value creation.
I was the Lead Arkitekt for this project and worked alongside my husband (Alex Moltzau), who is the Community Co-ordinator at OHOI. Our team included: five Architect student's from AHO (Oslo School of Architecture & Design), a Sound Engineer and an Entrepreneur.
The owners and stakeholders had some ideas about how they wanted to shape the project and we were given an open brief in terms of design. The full scope and purpose of the building was slightly unclear. There was an expressed wish to create a co-working space catering to a mix of investment and the startup environment, however there were also some thoughts about corporate innovation as an aspect in the building.
In the beginning there was a large amount of confusion whether the house should be closed or open. Whether the corporate innovation should be included or if it should be a space focused on investors and their startups.
When creating the conceptual framework for the physical execution of OHOI, I decided to tap into my network at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. Students pursuing a Master of Architecture seemed like great collaborating partners.
My reasoning for combining architects at an early stage of their education together with myself was to eliminate potential risks in the use of materials and application of the concepts created.
Concept design
A co-working space is seldom, if ever, formed by the opinions and ideas of one single individual. It is built by a community. A group of people with mixed fields of expertise and the shared goal of making what they build useful or wonderful for someone. Some of those who build the space will build it for themselves. Others who build may genuinely wish to facilitate an exciting workday.
At the same time you cannot build a co-working space in the traditional sense of construction. It is also a construct within the society of companies and individuals inhabiting the space. Therefore we could argue that Co-working is not simply the act of renting out an office. It is a change in the attitude of how we experience the office and working life. It is both an architectural, cultural and experiential shift in the office environment. A shift which requires careful facilitation and has to be nurtured every day, month and year.
Images of OHOI
The building will strive to be a positive contribution to the Norwegian ecosystem of co-working spaces with its bridge between entrepreneurs and investors.
You can check out their website: http://www.ohoi.co/
Or on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/oslohouseofinnovation/
