A home for innovators

Challenge
How can you build offices spaces that promote knowledge sharing and innovation? Geely’s idea was to build an open campus of over 104,000 m² located in central Gothenburg. It will feature office spaces, restaurants, co-working space, a Geely design studio, a Lynk & Co showroom and a hotel. At the campus, Geely aims to unite many of the brightest minds in the mobility industry under the same roof. To be truly successful, the campus needs to attract both Geely employees, other companies as tenants and members of the general public.

Strategy
A key part of the strategy was the decision to develop a new brand, including a strong visual identity and more independent name for the campus – abandoning the early project name Geely Innovation Centre in favor of the new brand Uni3 by Geely. A decision based on the desire to make the campus feel open and welcoming to companies outside of the Geely group and to the public. We developed the brand in parallel and collaboration with the planning and development of the campus itself, enabling insights from the brand development to inform the architecture, facilities and planned services, and vice versa. The brand is based on the insight that innovation doesn’t happen by chance, and that it’s really all about the people in the buildings, not the buildings themselves. Uni3 is a home for innovators. People need to thrive to do their best work and for innovation to blossom. When people are given the chance to flourish – ideas have the potential to become remarkable. Uni3 cultivates a dynamic environment where the expected becomes unexpected. Where 1+1 can become 3.

Solution
Architecture and design both unite a Scandinavian airy and crisp design tradition with a Chinese vibrancy. The five Chinese elements were used as a starting point: earth, fire, wood, water and metal all have their own colors. Each building in the campus is identified by one of the colors. In the visual identity we add a layer that shows how Uni3 is all about making people from the different buildings, offices and organizations come together to create something new. The rich and vibrant brand identity mixes and matches these colors, conceptually showing how the campus is all about openness and unexpected meetings. To top it off there is a well-balanced grid, a strong typography and an animation style that emphasizes the vivid and fluid motion of the visuals.

Results
The whole campus will be completed by 2022, and the first office building is in use since January 2020. The brand identity is live in external communication and in the branded environment at the campus itself. “We realized that we had an opportunity to create something more than just a development center. We could really infuse the building complex with a science park philosophy, but with our own unique Geely touch to it. A west meets east, technology and business meets culture-kind of place. I want this to be a fun place, where you are happy to bring your family and friends, where you look forward to coming to work on Monday mornings. So far I think we have succeeded quite well,” said Geely project leader and business executive Mr Gang Wei.