What Makes a Great Workplace in the Modern World?

Creating a workplace that connects global standards with local culture

AbbVie is a global biopharmaceutical company with a strong international culture and a workplace strategy shaped across markets. When its Finnish organisation moved to a new location, the project required more than a well designed office. It needed a local partner who could work confidently with remote global stakeholders while understanding the people, culture and ambitions of the Finnish organisation.  

A new chapter for AbbVie Finland

 AbbVie Finland was entering an important new chapter. The move to a new location created an opportunity to rethink not only the physical workplace, but also how people worked and connected. The local leadership team was driving a broader change in culture and ways of working, alongside important business priorities and a renewed sense of direction for the organisation. The new building offered an exceptional physical setting, but the opportunity was bigger than a move. It was a chance to create a workplace that reflected where AbbVie Finland was heading.

"Change Management was key to engaging employees and creating a sense of ownership”

A local project with a global audience

The project was led by AbbVie’s EMEA Real Estate team, with key stakeholders in Security, IT, AV and Branding working across multiple countries. With much of the decision-making happening remotely, AbbVie needed a trusted local partner who could navigate the requirements of a global S&P 500 organisation while building strong relationships with the Finnish team. At the same time, the local organisation was undergoing significant change. The workplace needed to support new ways of working, reflect the company's evolving direction and give employees a genuine sense of ownership in the transformation.

Leadership and the wider organisation

We began with strategic leadership interviews to understand the ambitions, priorities and challenges behind the move. An employee survey, workshops, and information sessions then brought the wider organisation into the process, creating ownership and involvement rather than simply presenting people with a finished workplace. At the same time, we localised AbbVie’s global brand guidelines for the Finnish environment, ensuring that the workplace felt recognisably part of the wider organisation while remaining appropriate to its local Nordic context.

An ongoing process

The process connected strategy, people and design from the beginning. Rather than treating workplace design as a final stage, we used the project to help the organisation understand and embrace its new ways of working. Following their move, the organisation continued to experiment with how different zones could be used. This created a clear link between the business objectives, employee experience, global brand and physical environment.

Exploiting the building 

Early in the project, we challenged the assumptions in the landlord's original test-fit plans. The new building offered exceptional views, but the initial layout didn't capitalise on them. Moreover, a natural social centre for the organisation was missing. We developed a social hub concept around a large central pantry, positioned to take advantage of the premise’s prime spot. Rather than functioning simply as a place to make coffee, it became a flexible heart of the workplace: a setting for events, training, informal meetings, social moments and everyday interaction. The result was a space that brought people together in ways the original plan hadn't anticipated, and one that quickly became one of the most loved elements of the workplace.

A workplace with a life beyond the move

The new workplace gave AbbVie Finland more than a new location. It provided a physical manifestation of the organisation's new direction and a workplace designed around the way people hoped to work, connect and collaborate.
More importantly, the process gave the local team a meaningful role in shaping the change, helping build ownership of the new workplace and ways of working.

  What came next

Our involvement didn't end when the project was completed. We have continued to work with AbbVie as a long-term local workplace partner, supporting reviews and minor upgrades as the organisation and its needs continue to evolve.

Our Role
 

Strategic planning  Leadership interviews and workplace objectives 

Employee engagement  Workshops, information sessions and survey 

Change management  Organisational support through new ways of working 

Brand localisation Close collaboration with the global brand team 

Workplace design  Programme, layouts, concept and interior design 

Project coordination  Close collaboration with the landlord's construction team

  Furniture procurement Detailed scheduling, specification and coordination of installations

Case Study – AbbVie Finland