ARCHELLO YOUR CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE

Skype is meanwhile a lot more than a simple Voice-Over-IP telephone. The service connects over 200 million users worldwide – using video telephony, instant messaging, a screen-sharing function, video conferences etc. Besides its headquarters in Luxembourg the company maintains branch offices in England, Estonia and Sweden. The Skype team in Stockholm that focuses on audio and video software development has now moved from a smaller office in the Stockholm-Slussen district to the former “Münchenbryggeriet” – a striking edifice in the heart of Stockholm built back in 1846 that once housed Sweden’s largest brewery. Meant for a staff of about 100, the new premises are comprised of audio and video studios, offices and areas for socialising. The interior design was developed by the bureau PS Arkitektur in Stockholm. It is based on the fundamental Skype idea to be a useful, fun tool that hooks up the whole world. Bright colours and soft furniture modelled upon the cloud-shaped Skype logo mark the interior just as much as the many pointed triangular forms symbolising the connected nodes in a network. This network structure is reflected in the flooring design as well: roughly 1000 m² of Vorwerk FreeSCALE Partition carpet tiles were utilised for the spacious offices – one of 3 free-form tiles which can be varied to create an almost unlimited number of images on the floor.