TreCe and Glimakra: London welcomes Nordic design solutions

By Emma Rodin

As part of Nordic Design House, office interior brands TreCe and Glimakra of Sweden are heading to the UK. Bringing clever recycling solutions and acoustic designs to a wider audience, customers can expect function-led design with sustainability at heart and a detail-driven, minimalistic approach.

As long-standing leaders in their respective fields, TreCe and Glimakra have naturally gravitated towards British territory. As two solutions-driven brands that follow the same school of design, they are joined at the hip by a mutual dedication to high quality, intelligent design and an ethical business model. Not to mention how they both place humans at the centre of each design.

TreCe and Glimakra: London welcomes Nordic design solutions

TreCe’s Ridge line takes the faff out of waste management – and look good too. Photo: TreCe

“It’s not just about bringing Nordic elements overseas though,” explains Nordic Design House UK sales director Magdalena Tym. “It’s about sharing a certain way of thinking and behaving which goes beyond just the products themselves. These two brands have a shared purpose of solving problems that we, as consumers, sometimes didn’t even know existed. Telling that story is just as important as the products themselves.”

Coming to a showroom in London’s Clerkenwell (the capital’s interior hot spot) soon, there’s still time to get to know the two brands a little better ahead of launch.

Hightower. Photo: TreCe

Statement bins? Why, of course.

Experts in marrying function with great design, TreCe is a small Swedish family business turned industry-leaders. The company – which was established in 1973 and has always been led by innovation – is known for serving offices and public spaces with reliable, eco-conscious and durable products, such as stylish recycling bins.

The need for recycling solutions exists in all offices and public environments, for functional as well as aesthetic reasons. Providing waste bins and recycling stations that are made from carefully tested materials and guaranteed under respected environmental certifications such as Möbelfakta, TreCe’s products take the faff out of waste management – and look good too. Plus, they come in a variety of colours to either blend in or stand out.

“Some may wonder what the point is of an aesthetically pleasing recycling bin – I like to think that you’re more likely to look after a product and take positive actions in relation to it if you feel a connection with it. I guess it’s like when you were little and given a shiny, new notebook for school. You’d care for it and keep it safe,” says Tym.

Glimakra’s Campus collection of tables and benches are Hightower. Photo: TreCe designed to reduce noise. Photo: Glimakra of Sweden

Acoustics meet aesthetics

Similar to TreCe, Glimakra of Sweden (established in 1948) puts an great amount of care and craftsmanship into providing public spaces with sound comfort. Today, the company has the biggest range of floor and table screens in the industry, attending to every acoustic need. All products are manufactured in the company’s own factory in the Swedish village of Glimåkra and each step of the supply chain is carefully monitored by its team.

The most important aspect of Glimakra’s products is that they are tested acoustically by an expert in the field to help each space reach its full potential. An office, for instance, needs furniture and interior elements with varied levels of acoustics.

Great examples of this are the BuildUp Pods and Pavilions created in partnership with design studio Kauppi & Kauppi. The brief was to deliver a vision for a meeting room of the future. So, Kauppi & Kauppi took inspiration from Glimakra’s surrounding forest and glades – a place that’s quiet, yet never fully silent – aiming to capture their sense of wellbeing and calm.

Speaking of wellbeing, mental health is an important aspect of Glimakra’s designs and is considered in clever, yet subtle ways. A good example is the sound-absorbing Campus line of tables and benches. Designed with a wooden top and fabric-covered insides to pick up noise, these pieces not only look good, but constantly and unnoticedly work to give workers an optimum environment to thrive in.

Something else that neatly binds the two brands together is their shared strive for new and better solutions; always with humans in mind, of course. Moreover, there are numerous exciting new projects in the pipeline for both brands. So, do keep an eye out for two newcomers that are here to stay, ready to take office design solutions to the next level.