Nokia Space Management Services

HOK’s dedicated global team worked with Nokia’s mobile phone business from 2010-2015, until it was acquired by Microsoft.

Nokia acquired Alcatel-Lucent in 2015, along with approximately 50,000 employees and 440 properties. This immediately doubled Nokia’s real estate portfolio and headcount while creating a number of workplace inefficiencies. The result was a diverse portfolio of space occupied by teams from Finland (Nokia), Germany (Siemens), France (Alcatel) and New Jersey (Lucent)—all accustomed to different workplace cultures and features.

HOK collaborated with Nokia to quickly optimize this global space portfolio. Our team measured space utilization and provided reporting systems. We helped implement business unit sharing ratios ranging from 1.1 to 1.5 and established regional standards for office space area. HOK also collaborated with Nokia’s facilities management team to deliver more than 150 occupancy tracking studies used to drive projects and set global targets.

HOK’s regional team leaders—all senior interior designers—led the design of projects, trained design collaborators from other firms and oversaw project implementation. These leaders also helped update Nokia’s workplace standards and design guidelines.

Working with Nokia’s strategy group, HOK’s occupancy planners in each region systematically redefined the space requirements of the consolidated firm and recommended new occupancy plans in cities around the world. These plans enabled Nokia to shed about 20 percent of its portfolio.