NORNORM’s purpose and vision is to apply a circular model to office interiors. To offer flexible, affordable and inspiring work environments through using, and reusing, resources intelligently in order to promote the well-being of employees, businesses and the planet.
Every year, millions in tons of furniture are discarded by consumers and businesses. Under current models of consumption, one single workspace can represent between 140-320 kg of potential waste. Today’s office planning and design is still largely defined by linear business models — ones that often result in accumulating goods and poor planning that leads to unnecessary waste.
To design the workplace of the future, we will not only have to expand upon the innovation that has been dedicated to bettering these spaces for people, but fundamentally reimagine their foundation, so they can be better for our planet.
Welcome to NORNORM’s way of thinking.
NORNORM’s vision for the workplace of the future is simple: integrate circularity into its foundation and demonstrate how it can benefit individuals, design, business practices and the environment.
NORNORM’s circular business approach offers access to quality furniture and adaptable workspaces at an affordable price. By choosing to subscribe instead of buy, you’re taking an important step towards reducing the carbon footprint of your operations. When there is no longer need for certain pieces of furniture in your office, NORNORM will not retire or scrap them. Instead they will be refurbished and re-used, prolonging their lifespan.
NORNORM’s products can continue to be used and still meet our premium quality standards. Timeless designs add to the circularity of the concept since they never go out of style. Products that previously lasted 3 years can now last for 30.
Based on a lifecycle analysis carried out by NORNORM, comparing our circular furnishing service with buying office furniture, significant benefits are identified with the circular model. The circular model reduces CO2 emission by up to 70% and makes better use of resources. The positive effects are generated through furniture circulation and prolonging their lifetime by up to 4 times compared to when furniture is bought.
“We must rethink how we create new business models. The fact that the planet is running out of resources means that the linear, take-make-waste economy will have to make way for a circular approach in all aspects of life, including the office.”
In this interview, Jonas Kjellberg, initiator and Chairman of the Board of NORNORM, talks about why subscribing is better than buying – and why going round in circles should become the new norm.
Our circular model imposes rigorous demands on the furniture we use. It must not only endure for an extended period within our ecosystem but also meet stringent criteria in terms of functionality, quality, and sustainability.
To identify and select the most suitable furniture, we have developed a selection model based on five key principles. These principles encompass timeless design, high functionality, product quality to ensure longevity, sustainability for the environment, and a component-based design for simplified renovation and repair.
Circularity is essential in creating tomorrow’s workspaces. With people and their work becoming increasingly more fluid and flexible, the communal workplace is no longer a certainty, but a choice. A space's ability to adapt — sustainably and without cost — is vital in rising to the occasion of this new normal.
Most importantly, the precedent set by this circular approach puts sustainable consumption at the foundation of a business model. It is not an add-on. It is not an afterthought. It is not a targeted campaign.
There are so many opportunities for innovation under sustainable design. In order to secure long-standing impact, we need to focus just as much on how we work within this field as we do on what it creates.
We have started with a subscription-based furnishing model, but with this in mind we hope to expand our circular approach into a collective discussion about the way we design our spaces, what we think about business and the ways in which we work together.
This is just the beginning.
A key feature of NORNORM is timeless design. This is a prerequisite of a long life of the items and the circularity of the concept. That’s why every piece in the sets is carefully selected to represent the clean looks, good quality and pared down aesthetics that will guarantee it being appreciated by every user, in every office – and for many years to come.
Imagine the amount of packaging used in the traditional way of decorating an office, when every piece of furniture is wrapped individually in an enormous amount of plastic, cardboard, etc. NORNORM’s concept of supplying sets, instead of single pieces, means much more efficient packaging – and much less waste.
CO2 emissions can be reduced from freight transport by reducing average haul lengths, improved vehicle utilisation, reconfiguring production and distribution. NORNORM aims to achieve this through efficient packaging and smart route planning.
It all begins with the individual items. To ensure that we build office spaces that positively influence the planet, we have put longevity and high quality as the top priority in our product range. Each piece of furniture is designed to last a minimum of 15 years. Modular building principles allow these same items to be easily taken apart and repaired — this extends their potential life by decades. With each piece’s unique ‘passport ID’ — whether it be a chair, a desk or a grand table perfectly outfitted for team brainstorms and dinners —we keep track of exactly how many lives it has lived and how we can better our design practices in the ambition of making it immortal.
But beautifully designed products won't last without a service that extends their longevity. This is why we have created a reversed logistics system that can take back any piece of furniture, re-furbish it, and send it along to another subscriber. Same piece of furniture, different office, minimised impact.
“What we want to do is something that creates impact. In order to do that, we need to appeal to the many, not the few.”
Anders Jepsen, CEO NORNORM
