Better HQ
CASE STUDY
Shared values.
Tailored wellbeing.
Architecture: DARKO LEČNIK
APLAN d.o.o., Koper, www.aplan.si
WORKPLACE AS A MISSION
Much has been written about the way organisations must embed their values in the design of their offices and their workplace culture more generally. Often these are shared values across societies, such as green building design, a better approach to diversity and inclusion and the need to nurture personal wellbeing.
Sometimes, however, those values are linked to the very business model of the organisation. A company that uses data on a global scale to improve the healthcare and lives of individuals at a local level, must follow through on that in the way it works.
A company like Better.
Its mission is to work with healthcare providers around the world to leverage data to improve the lives and wellbeing of people in every possible way. It also has a democratic approach to its use of data.
All this has to be reflected in the firm’s own working culture and the design of its offices, which this case study is all about.
We created Better to harness the power of a new wave of technology to improve the wellbeing of people worldwide. We do that by gathering data and sharing it with healthcare providers that can then make better decisions and take better care of their customers and patients. Most importantly, it helps people to live longer and healthier lives. Better lives.
Tomaž Gornik
CEO
Our new workplace is essential in delivering our vision. We chose our design partners because they shared the same values. The results are everything we wanted, and more.
Our new offices reflect who we are and where we are going.”
ABOUT Better
Better d.o.o., a brainchild of its founder and CEO Tomaž Gornik, is a Ljubljana based tech provider which works with over 500 hospitals and more than 150 clients across 16 countries, and it stores more than 30 million unique patients’ electronic health records. It employs 130 people from its head office and is growing fast.
Better’s mission is to improve health and care for all by simplifying the work of health and care teams, accelerating digital transformation underpinned by data for life. The company is recognised as an innovator and thought leader in several key markets and the worldwide leader in openEHR-based products that will accelerate development and digital transformation for healthcare organisations looking to the future. It advocates increased focus on data, the use of vendor-neutral clinical data repositories, low-code development tools, and personalised digital user experiences.
In promoting the openEHR standard, Better is part of a global community of healthcare, service, and technology providers as well as healthcare practitioners, doctors, and nurses with shared values and a commitment to share information, technology, and thinking about the best ways to deliver healthcare solutions.
Tailored wellbeing
Better’s growth and success made a speedy move to new premises essential. But this wasn’t just about an ability to accommodate the expected growth of the business at a rate of up to 12 percent year on year. A new office also had to offer a manifestation of the company’s values.
Roko Malkoč
At the forefront of this thinking was a new approach to wellbeing. The office has to offer people more space, greater access to natural light and fresh air and a greater choice about where and how to work. It not only has to address their personal wellbeing needs but also provide them with a tailored experience each working day.
As with the Better business model, it was essential to create something that applies to everybody but which also addresses the specific needs of each person as an individual.
Božidarka Radović
This was a practical as well as ethical concern. Better wants to create a workplace culture that makes the organisation an attractive employer for the younger professionals it knows are essential to drive its innovation and growth.
Better wanted to create a workplace culture that makes the organisation an attractive employer for young professionals… the best and brightest talents who are essential for driving its innovation and growth.
First contact
We believe the best marketing we can do is by example. So, when Better was looking for a partner to bring their vision of a new workplace to reality, they were recommended to talk to Kragelj. Visits to existing offices designed by Kragelj sealed the deal.
Kristina Keber
Better leadership was also attracted to the way Kragelj approaches projects. Most of all, they were drawn to the comprehensive programme of analysis that precedes each project. In the case of Better, this included client interviews with both executives and other staff.
Relationships and crucial information flows were mapped out by pre-occupancy evaluations and analysis. Kragelj also carried out utilisation studies which not only gauged space requirements but also the needs of individuals and how they might change over the day and over longer periods of time. This not only allows the design to meet current needs but be flexible enough to adapt as they change over time.
This dual, in-built agility not only allowed the firm to introduce a more collaborative work culture from day one, but also anticipate its growth and development over time.
Utilisation studies not only measure space requirements but also the needs of individuals and how they might change over shorter and longer periods of time.
Robert Tovornik
Data Scientist
Layered thinking
One of the specific challenges posed by the building chosen by Better as a new home was to maximise lines of communication over the seven storeys and two basements of the 3,000 sq. m. space. This was essential as part of the new collaborative, project-based and inclusive work culture.
The analytics, utilisation studies and questionnaires really came into their own during this phase of the design process. It was essential that any specific floor of the building did not become a self-contained unit or be dedicated to one particular department.
In his book How Buildings Learn, Stewart Brand outlines the process whereby buildings evolve over time to meet the changing needs of occupants. He describes each building as consisting of six layers, each of which functions on a different timescale. These range from the site itself which has a life cycle measured in centuries, through to the building (decades), interior fit out (years), technology (months), to stuff (days). The effectiveness of a workplace design will depend on how well it resolves the tensions that exist between these layers of the building.
So, each floor offers different types of facilities, amenities and workspaces, nudging people to move around the building, generating moments of serendipity. By creating both formal and informal flows of information in this way, the building fosters a cohesive company culture and sense of belonging, whatever an individual’s job function or work preferences.
Privacy is a vital part of the design, which strikes the right balance between access to colleagues for collaborative work and the chance for each person to work with full acoustic and visual privacy whenever necessary.
Each floor incorporates a breakout space for informal chats over a coffee, but each employs its own colour palette to aid wayfinding and offer a sense of place. The larger communal space on the ground floor incorporates a restaurant and more meeting space. Crucially, there is no floor dedicated to an executive suite for the directors of the business. Everybody is in it together.
Ground Floor
As well as the shared meeting, dining and social space on the ground floor, there is a mezzanine with meeting, coaching, presentation and learning spaces as well as relaxation and massage rooms.
1st Floor
The first floor has a focus on creativity including a section with tiered seating. It offers individual booths for complete privacy as well as a tree which allows people to take breaks in a genuinely natural setting.
2nd Floor
Because the second floor is the setting for the reception area, there is a stronger focus on corporate identity. This is front of house, the handshake of the building. It incorporates larger meeting spaces and a library, with deck chairs to allow people to read while looking out on the outside world.
3rd and 4th Floor
Each of the remaining floors incorporates a range of work settings. Although these are similar in nature, the configuration is specific to each floor which not only changes their functionality in interesting ways, but also gives people a sense of place and is carefully designed to reflect the flows of information around the building, including between floors.
Alenka Kragelj Eržen
Feedback
Strategic / corporate aspect
Tomaž Gornik CEO
“Much has been said in the past two years about the power of technology to transform our lives. Most of that talk has been about the world of work. But the digital transformation will touch every aspect of our lives, including the most important ones, such as health and healthcare.
We created Better to harness the power of a new wave of technology to improve the wellbeing of people worldwide. We do that by gathering data and sharing it with healthcare providers that can then make better decisions and take better care of their customers and patients.
Most importantly, it helps people to live longer and healthier lives. Better lives.
Our new workplace is essential in delivering this vision. We chose our design partners because they shared the same values. The results are everything we wanted, and more. We notice that our employees feel at home when they come to work and that is what we really wanted to achieve.
Our new offices reflect who we are and where we are going. And we are delighted that Kragelj has been with us on that journey.”
people aspect
Roko Malkoč Business Unit Director
“It was essential for Better that the core values of the organization are reflected in the design of our offices. The space is focused on the well-being and comfort of our people and teams.
The office makes the most out of natural resources such as daylight and fresh air and its materials and colour palette have been chosen to help people feel relaxed at work.
We wanted the space to appeal to those who already work with us and those who will be attracted to us in the future. I’m pleased to say that we succeeded in this.”
COLLABORATION aspect
Božidarka Radović Product Lead
“The main role of the offices in the new era of work is to provide a platform for collaboration. But at the same time understanding that people need time and space for focused work and learning as well as relaxing and socializing.
So we spent some time thinking about how information and ideas flow between teams and individuals at Better. We were then able, under the expert guidance of the Kragelj Team, to transfer these in the design of our new offices.
Kragelj designed ample spaces for formal meetings while maximizing opportunities for unplanned, ad hoc interactions which are, as we know, the essence of innovation and creativity. This is, in my opinion, the biggest success of the project.”
INNOVATION aspect
Robert Tovornik Data Scientist
“The spark of creativity may come to us at any time. But for a great idea to be born it needs expert knowledge, time for incubation as well as planned and chance encounters with people who have the other parts of the idea.
These are the main ingredients of innovation and they are reflected in the core values of how Better does its business. Now they are also there in the concept and design of our new offices. With our new workplace, we got a creative hub in which our people can learn, invent bright new ideas, and bring them to reality.”
COMMUNICATION / BRANDING aspect
Kristina Keber Marketing Specialist
“We believe that our ideas and the services we create at Better are directly linked to the success of our customers. Now we’ll be able to support them even better and show them that we live the company’s identity each day. And our new office is the extension of our brand and one of its strongest symbols.
Our new workplace also directly supports our marketing efforts. Not only can we better communicate between eachother, but we can also better communicate what we stand for when our principles and values are something we practice daily in the place we work.”
PROJECT EXECUTION aspect
Alenka Kragelj Eržen CEO & L Architect
“Even when everybody working on a project has the same goals, that doesn’t mean they agree on the best ways to achieve them. This is especially true on complex projects with a number of stakeholders.
Part of our role at Kragelj is to make sure that the entire team agrees on both the destination (goals) and the journey (project execution). Ambitious projects like Better need complete buy-in from everyone involved. This was the biggest workplace change project in Slovenia in 2021 and the consensus was essential.
That made it essential we got the right results and kept to strict budgets and timelines. That is as much a part of how we measure success as the finished results. We apply the same thinking across all of our work, regardless of the size and scope of the project. The skills we learn and apply on large, complex projects like Better benefit all of our customers.
We are now in the final phase of the project, which is measuring how users of the space feel about their experience, and how it has impacted their wellbeing and productivity. The post occupancy analysis will also look at how the wider organisation is benefitting from the work.
The signs are already very good and are testament not only to our own work, but to the vision and work of the leadership team at Better and all their colleagues.”
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