flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

IKEA to convert original store into company museum

IKEA to convert original store into company museum

Due to open next year, the museum is expected to attract 200,000 people annually to rural Älmhult, Sweden, home of the first ever IKEA store.  


By BD+C Staff | May 22, 2014
IKEA Headquarters in lmhult, Sweden. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
IKEA Headquarters in lmhult, Sweden. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Global retail giant IKEA has announced that it will transform its original store, in Älmhult, Sweden, into a museum celebrating the history of the company and its hugely popular products. 

Given its cult following, especially in Europe, the retailer expects the IKEA Museum to draw some 200,000 visitors to the rural town in southern Sweden. 

The company was founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad, currently one of the world's richest people, with a net worth exceeding $4 billion. Kamprad opened the original location in 1958.

IKEA's Michele Acuna, who will manage the project, said the idea for the museum became a real possibility after the Älmhult store was moved to a new site nearby. 

At 37,600 sf, the building is markedly smaller than the mammoth, bright-blue boxes that are commonplace across the globe, but it will serve as ample space for the exhibits. 

It's expected that the museum will be a beefed up version of the 8,600-sf, 20-room IKEA Through the Ages display at the company's culture center in Älmhult.

Here's the company's statement on the project:
When the old IKEA Älmhult store was replaced in November 2012 by a new store, it left a building rich with history at the heart of the IKEA world - the perfect home for the new IKEA Museum. 

This first and only IKEA Museum will be “a house of stories”; stories about people, challenges, opportunities, design, homes and home furnishing. It plans to open in 2015. The ambition of the museum is to engage all visitors and encourage them to take an active part in the IKEA story.

Here's a look at several of the IKEA Through the Ages exhibits (courtesy IKEA):

Related Stories

| Aug 11, 2010

CHPS debuts high-performance building products database

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) made a new tool available to product manufacturers to help customers identify building products that contribute to sustainable, healthy, built environments. The tool is an online, searchable database where manufacturers can list products that have met certain environmental or health standards ranging from recycled content to materials that contribute to improved indoor air quality.

| Aug 11, 2010

ICC launches green construction code initiative for commercial buildings

The International Code Council has launched its International Green Construction Code (IGCC) initiative, which will aim to reduce energy usage and the carbon footprint of commercial buildings.Entitled “IGCC: Safe and Sustainable By the Book,” the initiative is committed to develop a model code focused on new and existing commercial buildings. It will focus on building design and performance.

| Aug 11, 2010

Green Building Initiative launches two certification programs for green building professionals

The Green Building Initiative® (GBI), one of the nation’s leading green building organizations and exclusive provider of the Green Globes green building certification in the United States, today announced the availability of two new personnel certification programs for green building practitioners: Green Globes Professional (GGP) and Green Globes Assessor (GGA).

| Aug 11, 2010

Potomac Valley Brick launches brick design competition with $10,000 grand prize

Potomac Valley Brick presents Brick-stainable: Re-Thinking Brick a design competition seeking integrative solutions for a building using clay masonry units (brick) as a primary material.

| Aug 11, 2010

Outdated office tower becomes Nashville’s newest boutique hotel

A 1960s office tower in Nashville, Tenn., has been converted into a 248-room, four-star boutique hotel. Designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with PowerStrip Studio as interior designer, the newly converted Hutton Hotel features 54 suites, two penthouse apartments, 13,600 sf of meeting space, and seven “cardio” rooms.

| Aug 11, 2010

HDR, Perkins+Will top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 100 largest healthcare design firms

A ranking of the Top 100 Healthcare Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

| Aug 11, 2010

Steel Joist Institute announces 2009 Design Awards

The Steel Joist Institute is now accepting entries for its 2009 Design Awards. The winning entries will be announced in November 2009 and the company with the winning project in each category will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship in its name to a school of its choice for an engineering student.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021