The Steelcase Munich Learning and Innovation Center (LINC) is a total reimagination of an existing structure. The design effort leveraged the expertise of a diverse international team—Henn Architects, Munich; Patrick Jouin and Manku Design, Paris; and the Steelcase Design team. The design team’s vision was to transform an outdated office space into a magnet destination for employees and visitors—a future-focused, inspiring center for learning and innovation.
“We designed the LINC to support a culture shift from thinking of the workplace as ‘the corporate office’ to experiencing it as ‘the creative studio,’” says James Ludwig, who heads the Steelcase design and engineering teams.
The LINC was purposefully designed to support the needs of individuals and teams by bringing them together and seamlessly integrating the technologies they need to do their work. As an ecosystem of interconnected and interdependent environments, it provides different kinds of spaces for different kinds of work and recognizes that having choice and control improves people’s wellbeing and engagement.
The design intentionally promotes movement and posture changes; instead of sitting at an assigned desk most of the day, people choose from a variety of environments depending on their task, the technologies they’re using or their state of mind.
Workers can manage their privacy with a range of spaces for collaboration and interaction as well as shielded or enclosed settings for focused work, personal conversations or a quiet, calming interlude. They can manage their presence, with areas and technologies that support face-to-face interaction as well as virtual collaboration with colleagues in other locations.
Visitors who come to the Learning and Innovation Center (LINC) in Munich are invited to actively participate in experiences designed for active learning, discovery and innovation. Any amount of time spent here, whether in person or virtually, is an opportunity to experience firsthand how space can address business issues and positively impact strategy, brand and culture.
