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Autumn vibes
September 26, 2022. Written by Reetta Sohlman
In the latest blog, Interior Architect Reetta Sohlman shares her views on autumn trends for homes and other interior environments. Learn more about trendy materials, color shemes and tips on how to achieve harmonious surroundings.
ISKU celebrates 10-year anniversary in the Middle East area
June 24, 2022. Written by Joonas Vikström @ Joonas Vikström
In his latest blog Joonas Vikström reflects on how ISKU has developed a successful green-field operations in the Middle East region throughout 10 years. In this blog Joonas also shares some interesting historical facts about ISKU and himself recalling key years and events.
From Lahti with love – ISKU donates school furniture for people of determination
May 27, 2022. Written by Joonas Vikström @ Joonas Vikström
While the mainstream goes along with the international private schools, one of the growing education systems in the Middle East is the provision of education for people of determination. It is a very different education system from the private schools as it is an education system build on compassion and care rather than business.
What sets us apart?
May 13, 2022. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
In her latest blog post Elise Tarvainen, the COO of ISKU International, reflects what sets ISKU apart? ISKU provides the customers with unique user experience with best and fast service, top-quality, Nordic design and material innovations.
Workplace as an experience
April 4, 2022. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
Workplace is any place the employee carries out tasks for ones employer. The advanced technology has led to a new type of workplace, a virtual one, that allows people to work fully remotely. The era of remote and hybrid work with virtual workspaces challenge us to re-think the concept of workplace and how the experiences are born in this new normal.
Dubai World Expo 2021 - Sustainability
March 7th, 2022. Written by Antti Olin
ISKUs Design Director Antti Olin shares his impressions and experiences from Dubai World Expo 2021. Antti highlights especially sustainability as one of the key aspects of the majority of the pavilions. Having had the pleasure of facilitating our Design event at the pavilion in February, Antti also reflects the feelings and feedback that ISKU has received as well as the experiences that had the deepest impact on him.
Towards better working environments
December 20, 2021. Written by Miia Lähdes
Responsibility is an important value for ISKU and an important factor to take into account, when we are returning to the office. This is something that Miia Lähdes, ISKUs Director of Service Business, is doing in her work, when planning the new working environment together with the customer. How should hybrid office spaces look like, and what kind of services can ISKU provide for its customers?
Learning environment design takes students with special needs into consideration
February 7, 2022. Written by Hannes Heinilä.
Every child is special, and everyone has some individual needs that need to be considered when designing the learning process. Knowing the students and understanding of the students’ overall needs help the educators to apply appropriate support measures to help every student to thrive. Properly designed support measures have far-reaching implications for a child's well-being and development.
Quality is not accidental
October 25, 2021. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
Mission completed. Finland Majlis at the World Expo Dubai is up and running. Over 2-year project of design, creating solutions desired and tweaking the details has come to a happy end. As a result, the VIP and Conference floor now serves as a fascinating avenue for businesses, cultures, and people to connect and share ideas.
Naturally from Finland
August 30, 2021. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
Sustainable responsibility is a commitment to humanity. At the upcoming Expo ISKU furniture solutions at the Finland Majlis bring to life our aspiration to provide memorable experiences from Finland, Finnish nature, our journey of sustainability and actions for a lasting legacy.
5 Takeaways from COVID for The Great Return to Office
June 21, 2021. Written by Joonas Vikström @ Joonas Vikström
After a time of new normal with remote working and social distancing, we have another paradigm shift lurking behind the corner: The great return to the office. But are we returning to the same “old normal” it used to be, or have we learned something new?
Sharing future happiness – go with the flow and enjoy the ride
May 24, 2021. Written by Reetta Sohlman
Finnish design, quality, know-how and innovation are brought together to create unforgettable and safe exhibition experiences for the visitors of the Finland Majlis at the upcoming Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE. Get a sneak peek and join the ride towards the Expo.
Back at the office!
April 12, 2021. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
The concept of work has now a new meaning. Aesthetics and the way the users experience the space strongly influence productivity, motivation and work well-being. In an inspiring and stimulating work environment the employees thrive.
Why we didn’t pay attention to contact surfaces earlier and what they can offer for work interiors?
March 15, 2021. Written by Joonas Vikström @ Joonas Vikström
The pandemic raised the awareness on contact surfaces in public premises. Contact surfaces are an integral part of the chain of infection. A maintenance-free option for infection prevention in work interiors is ISKU+ antimicrobial furniture concept.
You Snooze, You lose.
March 1, 2021. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
What does agility in an organization really mean? It’s evident that year 2020 changed our operational environments rapidly and irrevocably. Year 2021 now calls for new leadership to support individuals fighting the pandemic fatigue and navigating with social restrictions.
Agility of organizations is all about people – applying the principles of agile in all levels of organization. This can be learned only by doing in an operational culture where everyone is enabled and empowered to create, to learn through trial and error, and to adapt new ways of thinking.
Come along to a sustainable purchasing journey
January 11, 2021. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
Considering our planet’s current state, it’s an imperative for both individuals and enterprices to shift to greener and more sustainable lifestyle. Companies need to show to their customers, employees and other stakeholders that they operate a responsible business when it comes to social, environmental and governance issues.
There is no better time than today to take actions towards sustanaible way of living. Every buying decision is a new opportunity to reduce negative and simultaniously to enhance positive environmental and social impacts by one’s own actions. Every purchase matters.
Design and Quality – you deserve it!
December 16, 2020. Written by Antti Olin @ Antti Olin
The past year has brought us to face a new normal in many ways. The interior and furniture solutions that surround us, play a major role in a working day experience.
MyFlow is a novel furniture family that creates a unified look into an environment. Energy, soft shapes and forms as the source of inspiration, MyFlow brings joy to any working day. So, when we finally get back to the office, let’s do it with style and quality!
Responsibility is actions
November 6, 2020. Written by Kaisa Vuori @ Kaisa Vuori
Our northern surroundings have shaped us. They have made us into creative and practical team players. We have courage to do things differently. We take responsibility for each other and the environment. To us, sustainable development comes naturally and responsible operations mean actions. We believe in design, individuality, craftmanship and quality. We build environments that offer safe and comfortable places for us to grow up, study, work and thrive.
#workingfromhome
October 12, 2020. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
Working from home has become a lifeline for many businesses and our perception of office has expanded to any place in which a professional person conducts business. When favoring remote work, both the employers and employees need to pay attention to physical, cognitive as well as to social and organizational matters.
Also, the ergonomic choices in home offices are just as important as if you were working in an employer’s office.
Antimicrobial efficacy on furniture contact surfaces
September 28, 2020. Written by Joonas Vikström @ Joonas Vikström
Several studies indicate that ISKU+ antimicrobial furniture increase antimicrobial efficacy on surfaces. Antimicrobial contact surfaces are proven to relate to significantly reduced microbe amounts and to plummeted short-term absenteeism.
All in all, antimicrobial indoor spaces are less contaminated helping us fight the infections in shared spaces.
Learning design elements in the times of crisis
August 31, 2020. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
Educators and school providers are now vigorously looking for new practices to meet all the addressed expectations shaded by Covid-19. “Marie Kondo-ing” the curriculum, building bonds and enhancing interaction is now more important than ever. Also, the learning environments need to be re-imagined to accommodate the required safety protocols in the school buildings that haven’t changed since March 2020.
Hybrid learning is a requirement of the new normal
August 17, 2020. Written by Tiina Malste.
All of a sudden last spring, mostly unwillingly and unprepared, we got caught up in the whirlpools of hybrid pedagogy, being in need to combine face-to-face instruction with online activities. Many of our pedagogical experts and students are highly competent in the face-to-face component of the hybrid but less practiced with being physically apart from each other.
How indoor hygiene and furniture can be tied together?
August 3, 2020. Written by Joonas Vikström @ Joonas Vikström
The importance of hand washing and cleaning the essential contact surfaces has never been so obvious as it has become along the year 2020. Those practices can be considered as the key corner stones of indoor hygiene. If one still wonders why, the simple answer can be found from the human nature and the compulsive urge to touch your face.
The modes of working are transforming rapidly and permanently – are we ready?
June 29, 2020. Written by Elise Tarvainen @ Elise Tarvainen
The last few months have brought us together to find a solution to a shared challenge of finding new ways and spaces to work. The core question is, how can we foster interaction and team collaboration without being physically too close to each other?