Episode 9: circular furniture is vital to becoming more sustainable

In the latest episode of Het Nieuwe Kantoor, Nynke de Jong talks to Herman Knevel of NORNORM. They're a rapidly growing company from Scandinavia that supplies office furniture on a subscription basis, a frontrunner in this field. The episode is called 'circular furniture' and is now available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Flexibility and circularity

According to Herman, several trends have converged in recent years. First, hybrid working, which was accelerated by the Covid pandemic. As a result, organisations and employees want (even) more flexibility in the workplace. In addition, more and more organisations are committing to ESG targets, with circularity being a necessary step.

'The demand for flexibility and circularity go together perfectly,' Herman explains. 'Furniture-as-a-service is the answer to both. It requires a different business model than is standard today: from selling a product to offering a service, and from linear to circular use. That is exactly what we are working on.'

Scaling up and down

When a company outsources its furnishing to NORNORM, a plan is made to suit the spaces and their associated activities. The furniture is then delivered within a few weeks. They are rented out on a monthly basis, with a minimum term of six months to cover start-up costs. 'With our service, you can scale up and down very easily,' says Herman. 'If certain pieces of furniture are no longer needed, they go elsewhere. And vice versa.'

NORNORM's furniture must naturally last a long time to circulate. That is why it is of the highest quality. At most, it requires occasional maintenance, or minor adjustments to give them a new life. In addition, the design has to be timeless. This clearly reflects the Scandinavian character: stylish, natural colours and materials.

Sustainable base

For HNK, it is not only important to take steps towards sustainability itself, but to do so together with its tenants. That is why NORNORM's circular furniture was selected for the Managed Offices. 'We create workplaces where people enjoy coming now and in the future,' says Robin Senne, Manager Workplace Solutions at HNK. 'All Managed Offices are already furnished with a number of sustainable workstations and a seating area, so the tenant has a solid base from the start. Of course, they can still make adjustments. Every quarter, tenants get the opportunity to make functional furniture changes. This keeps the office in line with the constantly changing activities and needs of companies and their employees.

Next up

The next episode of Het Nieuwe Kantoor will be published on 15 May and is about scent. In this episode, Nynke de Jong is joined by Sander Schaap of ScentAir, a scent marketing organisation with over 25 years of experience in this field. Sander knows all about scents and how to spread them within a given space.