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

Giants 400 | Sep 8, 2022

Top 115 Hotel Sector Architecture + AE Firms for 2022

Gensler, WATG, HKS, and Stantec top the ranking of the nation's largest hotel and resort sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report. 

Senior Living Design | Sep 8, 2022

What’s new with AQ: The top trends in active adult living

Today's 55-or-better buyers are ready to design their lives and their homes as they see fit. With so much growth on tap, builders and developers must stay apprised of trends related to home, environment, and culture of 55+ communities.

Sports and Recreational Facilities | Sep 8, 2022

Chicago Bears unveil preliminary master plan for suburban stadium district

As the 2022 NFL season kicks off, the league’s original franchise is fortifying plans to leave its landmark lakefront stadium for a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use stadium district in northwest suburban Arlington Heights.

| Sep 8, 2022

The Twin Cities’ LGBTQ health clinic moves into a new and improved facility

For more than 50 years, Family Tree Clinic has provided reproductive and sexual health services to underserved populations—from part of an old schoolhouse, until recently.

| Sep 8, 2022

U.S. construction costs expected to rise 14% year over year by close of 2022

Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE) is forecasting a 14.1% year-on-year increase in U.S. construction costs by the close of 2022.

Giants 400 | Sep 7, 2022

Top 95 Industrial Sector Architecture + AE Firms for 2022

Ware Malcomb, Stantec, Haskell, and Macgregor Associates Architects top the ranking of the nation's largest industrial facility sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.

| Sep 7, 2022

Use of GBCI building performance tools rapidly expanding

More than seven billion square feet of project space is now being tracked using Green Business Certification Inc.’s (GBCI’s) Arc performance platform.

| Sep 7, 2022

K-8 school will help students learn by conducting expeditions in their own communities

In August, SHP, an architecture, design, and engineering firm, broke ground on the new Peck Expeditionary Learning School in Greensboro, N.C. Guilford County Schools, one of the country’s 50 largest school districts, tapped SHP based on its track record of educational design.

| Sep 6, 2022

Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. (1939-2022) An incomparable spirit

Dynamic leader and Kohler Co. Executive Chairman Herbert Vollrath Kohler, Jr. passed away on September 3, 2022, in Kohler, Wisconsin.

| Sep 6, 2022

Demand for flexible workspace reaches all-time high

Demand for flexible workspace including coworking options has never been higher, according to a survey from Yardi Kube, a space management software provider that is part of Yardi Systems.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

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