STICKERAPP

Markus Linderoth

• Chief Architect

Warm, natural materials and a sparing, precise architecture weave together an inviting office environment, including social spaces, warehousing and a production hall. With its undulating facade, StickerApp's headquarters and production facility on Bronsgatan in Lomma creates a new urban space, with a restaurant that aims to open to the public several days a week.

photo_credit Markus Linderoth — Markus Linderoth

“Our goal was that everyone should be able to communicate with each other”, says Johan Sundberg. Sightlines, materiality and lighting are qualities that all contribute to creating a pleasant and well-functioning workplace.
“The production hall could have ended up in a warehouse somewhere else”, adds project architect Henrik Ålund, instead the clients, passionate about architecture, have set the bar high and made it a central part of the building. Solving this intricate relationship between spatiality and activity is clearly a puzzle which requires the involvement of an architect.

The interior walls are clad with pine plywood where the expression of the minimal joint is graphically precise. Together with light terrazzo flooring, clearly demarcated glass partitions without bulky frames and ceilings of suspended Troldtekt tiles, the carefully considered materials contrast with the production hall’s sizeable steel beams and well-proportioned ventilation pipes. A cosy atmosphere emerges against the industrial character.

At the building’s centre, the production hall rises to two stories high, forming a close visual relationship to the offices on the upper floor. The conference room cantilevers into the double height space of the hall and boasts a composition by the artist duo Beck & Ljung, the latter being the father of Hugo Ljungberg, one of the company's three founders. Below, laser and offset printers produce everything from standard stickers to prismatic, holographic, luminescent and transparent decals and labels, according to online orders.

The tension between carefully arranged natural materials, a harmonious colour scale and the coarser dimensions of industrial aesthetics means that the building can be read layer by layer, from finer to rawer materials.
Johan Sundberg and Henrik Ålund emphasise that production halls rarely involve an architect and are usually designed based on strict programs and surface factors rather than an overall experience. Through simple, economical means the architectural expression achieves an added value far beyond the ordinary. The high windows on the office floor let in plenty of natural light and provide a marked verticality together with a generous view of the surroundings. Johan Sundberg Arkitektur was responsible for the architectural design and all fixed furnishings, including the site-built ones of the common room with everything from ping pong tables to reading nooks. The loose interior furnishing was designed by Karolina Nilsson of White Arkitekter. Beside the entrance is the building's beating heart: the cafeteria and dining room, with a kitchen that would sit comfortably beside those of professional restaurants. During the greater part of the year, this social space is the face of StickerApp.

“We planned to have space for sixty employees on the premises”, says Hugo Ljungberg, who likes to be in the kitchen, not least as a pizzaiolo. Now we are 140, and in the future we will expand abroad. Of course we want to contribute to city life and have a food truck on site a few days a week, in the long term we expect to open the kitchen to the public from time to time.
“The canopy that follows the form of the building is the building's dress”, interjects Johan Sundberg, and emphasises the building's public character at the entrance to Lomma. This skirt gives the building a benevolent, sensual character while providing protection against rain and direct sunlight. Naturally, this undulating canopy also accommodates the portering of the numerous arrivals and departures to and from StickerApp.