Nordic Marine Living AB & Jonas Wagell win the Innovation Award 2008

The Innovation Award 2008 was handed out last night at a packed Studio Valbonne in Soho, London. After months of nomination processes and jury meetings, it was declared by Paul von der Heyde, Vice Chairman of the Chamber, that the award went to Nordic Marine Living AB in cooperation with Jonas Wagell. Mats Elzén, CEO and Christer Asplund, Chairman at Nordic Marine Living AB accepted the award in front of the crowd of about 400 guests from the network.

Adding design to something that has only been functional before
Nordic Marine Living AB has in cooperation with Jonas Wagell created an innovative compact solution for housing. It has produced a “mini-house”, aiming to add design to something that has only been functional before, the traditional “friggebod”. In order to break with the traditional “friggebod” design the Mini House seeks to optimize the space, using other materials and a different scale than before. These houses do not need building permits and create comfortable and stimulating living areas.

The project started as a Master thesis at Konstfack University College of Arts and Crafts and Design in 2007 by Swedish architect and designer Jonas Wagell. As the project was presented at a time when Swedish building regulations changed, Nordic Marine Living AB contacted Jonas Wagell and decided to produce the Mini-Houses for the general public.

-The company sought to create modern, well designed houses which do not need any building permits. We found the solution in Jonas's Mini-House which provides modern and airy living space, says Mats Elzén, CEO Nordic Marine Living. 

At present the development of the property market in the United Kingdom provides Nordic Marine Living and Jonas Wagell with a great opportunity to expand their business abroad.

-Although the property market is imploding there is still a need for better and roomier housing, says Mats Elzén. The Mini House can be a valuable solution for teenagers looking for something of their own, a home office or a guest house.       

The Mini House can be visited at the 100% Design exhibition at Earl’s Court 18-21 September, where it has been awarded the jury prize in the 100% Futures Competition.

Background
In 2006 the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK celebrated its centenary with a wide range of activities for its Members. The Centenary celebrations also saw the introduction of a Life Time Achievement Award which was presented to Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA and an Innovation Award which was given to Niklas Zennström, Skype.

The award was supported by Nordea and Sony Ericsson and was presented in connection with the Swedish Chamber of Commerce’s profile launch on 10 September. The other short listed nominees were digital media and business management school Hyper Island and construction company Skanska.

The Jury
The jury consisted of Bo Lerenius, CBE, Chairman, Paul von der Heyde, Managing Director, Kinnarps (UK) Ltd, Vice Chairman, Gunilla Banér, Managing Partner, KREAB London, Chairman Marketing Committee, Helene Barnekow, Vice President, Head of Central Marketing, Sony Ericsson, Ola Reis, Head of Swedish Desk, Nordea, Christina Liljeström, Director, Swedish Chamber of Commerce and Peter Sandberg, Communications Manager, Swedish Chamber of Commerce.

Press Contacts

The Swedish Chamber of Commerce
Peter Sandberg
sandberg@scc.org.uk
Tel: 020 7224 8001

Nordic Marine Living AB and Jonas Wagell
Mats Elzén
mats@nordicmarineliving.com
Tel: +46 703 594542