In the company slang, Nokia House is called NoHo, although some people also like to call it PowerPoint Palace, thanks to the company’s most popular form of communication. Nokia House is one of the most international workplaces in Finland; at least 60 different nationalities work here. The official working language is English, but you can also hear Finnish, Swedish and a mix of various other languages around you.
Nokia House is home to many support functions like sales, marketing, communication, HR and legal. This is probably why there are more women working in Keilalahti than at most other Nokia sites.
There is no dress code and the Finns are generally quite relaxed in their attire. You can bump into all kinds of styles from sharp business suits to scruffy tracksuit pants to trendy hipsters (who more often than not tend to work in Nokia Design).
Nokia House is located by the seaside and depending on where you happen to sit, you can admire either a gorgeous seaview or a congested motorway from its large windows. The majority of staff sit in open-plan offices and squabble over meeting rooms – there are never enough available!
If you hear the siren call of a bar or a pub, you need to head off towards downtown Helsinki, as there is absolutely nowhere to quench your thirst around Nokia House. This is probably why we don’t go out for drinks after work very often (which might – of course – be a positive thing, depending on your viewpoint).
More photo evidence below!
View from the main reception.
We suspect the frozen ship is a spyboat.
Lunches are hearty and fattening.
The Nokia Design hipsters have a fancy lounge.
Lunch break time!
The architecture in Nokia House is quite nice.
If you get frustrated by work, go and grab some boxing gloves downstairs!
Conclusive proof of our green work environment.
This is where we get our afternoon caffeine fix.
Cappuccino saves the day.
A trip down memory lane.
Contrary to what the BBC recently suggested, the saunas are (unfortunately!) not used very often.
If you want to buy things that say ‘Nokia’, this is the place to shop!
You can chill out in these nice chairs while waiting for your meeting room to be free.
This is where the real work is done. My cubicle is about 200 times messier than anyone else’s!
Folks who work in Nokia House or have visited it – did I forget anything essential?