Unilever Benelux
At work in Unilever City
Dove, Ben & Jerry’s, Cif and Knorr: brands we all know, and part of multinational Unilever. For the new Unilever Benelux headquarters Silo developed a spatial branding strategy that celebrates the diversity of the brands, but also connects them. The result is an inspiring office environment that contributes to a strong organizational identity for Unilever.
Spatial branding with strategic importance
Unilever’s brands and products are linked at a strategic level by shared values and purpose. The ingenious logo on all products makes this visible. The headquarter offices are the ultimate location to translate this strategy into the spatial environment. The interior reflects connectedness: you tacitly experience the themes that Unilever considers most important.
Office as an urban environment
Mecanoo designed the interior like a thriving city. The multifunctional cabinet system brings order to the collection of brands and forms the facade of a central axis with adjacent quarters for the various departments.
Walls are clad in felt reliefs made from recycled PET, in line with Unilever’s ambition to radically reduce the amount of new plastic in its packaging. Cut-outs and unexpected combinations of logo fragments lend the reliefs an abstract appearance.
Light and shadow play in the logo fragments reliefs
Mapped timeline
The various stories of the brands and the history of Unilever are detailed in an immense visual story that is echoed throughout the interior. Unilever City is populated by hundreds of unique characters that bring the familiar products to life. Key innovations from the past, legendary campaigns and sustainability ambitions: the illustration is an ultimate conversation starter.
Unilever City masterplan
In the illustration, each division has its own neighborhood in which a multitude of characters and stories can be discovered
A hub for every division
Special brand hubs for the various divisions – Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, Refreshment, Foods and Food Solutions – represent store fronts with their own atmosphere and look. Here customers are welcomed, informal discussions can take place and products are presented and tested. In the brand hubs, the famous brands are placed on a pedestal.
Wayfinding for Unilever is also derived from the interior grid
ClientUnilever BeneluxYear2020CreditsMecanoo (architect), Mike Bink (photography), Illustration developed in collaboration with Senne Trip & Megan Vos / Knetterijs
