CONTRACT FOR THE PEOPLE

Danish furniture brand BoConcept has been bringing Scandinavian comfort to private homes since the 1950s. More recently, however, its contract division is delivering similar levels of Hygge to large-scale rental projects.

BoConcept Contract London East Village Apartment

Victory Plaza in Stratford, East London, is a build-to-rent residential complex in the former Olympic athlete’s village. BoConcept has furnished the 482 apartments.

There have been many fundamental changes to the way we live lately – but one that is perhaps underplayed is exactly where the discrepancy between current wage levels and house prices leaves millennials and Generation Z. Adaptation to lifelong renting as opposed to owning may be posited, but for many, the huge shift in mindset that it represents in many countries is well underway. The burgeoning build-to-rent market, sweeping across the world from America, is testament to this change. According to real estate company Savills, in the UK alone, there are currently around 172,000 Build to Rent homes planned, under construction, or already operational, and this surge is replicated across the world in the likes of Germany, Dubai, Japan and Australia.

Adapting to this new property world order is Danish design brand BoConcept, which has been furnishing homes since the 1950s with pieces that provide comfort, ergonomics and all the style and refinements that characterise modern Danish design – a popular brand of design that BoConcept has taken around the world to meet demand. In 2014, it opened a contract division, and it is starting to shine precisely in the sort of large scale residential projects that the build-to-rent sector delivers.

Apartments at Victory Plaza were designed in one of three styles; Nordic Light, Botanical Vibe or Understated Luxury. The latter is richly textured with deep green and tan accents.

One such development is the recently completed Victory Plaza, part of the former Olympic athletes’ village in East London, owned by Get Living, who run rental developments across the UK capital. BoConcept proved the ideal partner to design and furnish the 482 apartments. In-house design teams delivered trend reports and CGIs of proposed designs and three were settled on: the quintessentially Scandi ‘Nordic Light’, the biophilic ‘Botanical Vibe’ and richly textured ‘Understated Luxury’. Not only is there an abundance of furnishings the brand can draw on to bring authentic, stylish home comfort, but the structure of the company gives them the edge in terms of cost and quality, turning the apartments into truly affordable luxury.

With the economies of scale involved, BoConcept’s aspirational style and quality can be made accessible to a younger audience via the build-to-rent sector.

‘We work with renowned designers such as Karim Rashid and Morten Georgsen, we manufacture and install ourselves – there are no subcontractors – so for volume orders, we can offer economies of scale,’ says Michel Baumgart, who heads up the contract division in London. ‘It means we can elevate the standards of living of these tenants.’ Millennials may not be able to buy property, but they can aspire to share their lives with the best possible furniture.