ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
The 20 years old building in Struer, (primarily) used for administration is now to be sold.
The last employers have already left there and have moved to the new facilities in the old Fabrik 4 nearby - called Innovation Lab.
This has been rebuilt and is now the home of pretty much any B&O activity in Struer (approx 550 people).
Even the CEO has his office (read: desk) there since a couple of months.
This is also where the new sound labs of the Acoustic Department and the BeoHome is.
As I was in Struer this fall for the annual general meeting, we did not ‘visit’ the Gården as in the years before,
so I already expected this to come.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
I remember my first visit to B&O to discuss my thesis with the guys in the video department, I got a tour and they were just almost done with the construction of Gården and I got a sneak peak... Those were the days...
When you say 'Bang & Olufsen - "Gården" - do you mean somewhere around 'The Farm' ?
I just 'Google Mapped' the address you gave, and it showed it as this...
Lee
@Lee
Yes, in danish we say Gården - since you ‘only english speaking’ guys can’t pronounce that, you have to call it the farm 😉
But that is it/The Farm - and honestly, I thought that the danish name is somewhat known amongst beoworlders.
Sad development. Here History! - Do you want to follow our visit to Bang & Olufsen in Struer Click here.
Why sad - selling a building, that you don’t need anymore, is better than keeping it.
Why pay for having an emplty estate.....just for the sake of nostalgia?
This is one of the reasons 'large' or established companies have such a difficult time adapting to changing or shrinking markets, and why very small flexible companies still growing can displace them from the market.
MM is right... you shouldn’t hold on to assets for sentimental reasons. However, the need to dispose of iconic assets is a symptom of there being something fundamentally wrong in how the company has developed in recent years.
Graham
vikinger:. MM is right... you shouldn’t hold on to assets for sentimental reasons. However, the need to dispose of iconic assets is a symptom of there being something fundamentally wrong in how the company has developed in recent years. Graham
You might be right on that one - but I think that depends on what you expect from the company.
However, one could also focus on the things that they gain by gathering all functions under one roof (in the modernized Fab 4) and not being stock with old structures in different locations.
When I think of the new rooms that the guys from the Acoustic Department have become there, I guess that they are quite pleased.
And maybe that again can turn into something that we/some of us may be pleased with as well?
I refuse to see things just negative and I am not nostalgic.
I have just taken early retirement from Ford and the famous UK HQ is due to be shut and the staff relocated to the site where I was based at the Design studio. This type of decision despite sentiment is being made by many companies at the moment. Do the displaced B&O people have a new location?
Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8. Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.Beosound 1
I meant to ask if the new location for the B&O employees is as photogenic as the old "farm" building?
so, just to chime in here, that awesome glass building that was built around 98/99 is now being emptied? i still have the original literature they sent out detailing the architecture of that building. i really liked the glass floored hall way--
There are some good pictures HERE from the last Beoworld visit in 2012
Regards Keith....
Simonbeo: I meant to ask if the new location for the B&O employees is as photogenic as the old "farm" building?
No, certainly not.
But that one was built, when there was plenty of money to spend on these things.
I’d say the new location are rather plain, pragmatic and non-spectacular - after all it is a work place.
The important thing is what is going on inside.
https://foursquare.com/v/bang--olufsen-rd-innovation-labs/5a0dc77e64c8e11593bd675d
The BeoHome is located here - some of which you can see in this video:
https://youtu.be/Qrwb2DXAqcQ
Keith Saunders: There are some good pictures HERE from the last Beoworld visit in 2012
6 years ago - maybe it’s time for another visit....or not!
Sad moment.
Glad that I had the pleasure of visiting it in 2006 together with a tour in the factory with Ronny Kaas Mortensen.
Karel.
BeoVision Haermony 65"...BeoLab 28 Anthracite....BeoLab 17 as REAR....BV10-32....BC6-26....Beosound 9000....Beosound 1 New York edt....Beogram 4002....Beoplay Emerge....Beoplay M5....Beoplay M3....Beoremote Halo....BeoRemote One BT....Beo6....Beo4....Beo4 Cinema....BeoLink 7000....Serene....H95 Black LTD....H9i Rimowa....6 x H6....Form 1....U70...
Is this the building they use in a lot of their promotional material?
Aussie Michael: Is this the building they use in a lot of their promotional material?
Yes!
what has happened to the sheep, relocated or given the chop?
Ban boring signatures!
Puncher: what has happened to the sheep, relocated or given the chop?
Mutton at the company cafeteria for the next few months.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Jeff:Mutton at the company cafeteria for the next few months. Jeff Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!
What company would buy this building?
As a big B&O fan since decades it nearly hurts to see the company and their products degrading (especially on the software and reliability site) over such a long time. They would be better off to "sell" their management and install someone who loves being a top manager AND has a passion for the brand. ;)
Well, after years of "a life less ordinary" let's move to a life more ordinary then.
Millemissen: @Lee Yes, in danish we say Gården - since you ‘only english speaking’ guys can’t pronounce that, you have to call it the farm 😉
My apologies for being English speaking. Unless you say " å " with three tongues and your teeth in your pocket, I'm sure we could manage it?! I'm not saying I could get much further than that, though.
My confusion was purely that it has always been referred to as 'The Farm' in any and all communication, both verbal and written, in person and on the internet from staff and even the public. I do respect that the Danes have their own word for it, but sadly I was unaware.
The Farm (or correctly, Gården) to me is an iconic building. The design and construction is everything Bang & Olufsen stands for. It is SO Danish, so B&O, and it wows visitors. B&O needs the 'wow factor' - it's what the company was built on, wasn't it?
Whilst it was purely a business decision, and I understand that, I think it's taken away yet another unique element away from the brand. The Head Office is the Mother-Ship, the place you build from. Now it's some nondescript sheds and 90's looking office space. Not really something to be proud of...
Not sure who will buy the Gården, though. Struer isn't exactly rocking when it comes to business hubs, and there's so much land out there if you do want to build anything.
9 LEE: Millemissen: @Lee Yes, in danish we say Gården - since you ‘only english speaking’ guys can’t pronounce that, you have to call it the farm 😉 My apologies for being English speaking. Unless you say " å " with three tongues and your teeth in your pocket, I'm sure we could manage it?! I'm not saying I could get much further than that, though. My confusion was purely that it has always been referred to as 'The Farm' in any and all communication, both verbal and written, in person and on the internet from staff and even the public. I do respect that the Danes have their own word for it, but sadly I was unaware. The Farm (or correctly, Gården) to me is an iconic building. The design and construction is everything Bang & Olufsen stands for. It is SO Danish, so B&O, and it wows visitors. B&O needs the 'wow factor' - it's what the company was built on, wasn't it? Whilst it was purely a business decision, and I understand that, I think it's taken away yet another unique element away from the brand. The Head Office is the Mother-Ship, the place you build from. Now it's some nondescript sheds and 90's looking office space. Not really something to be proud of... Not sure who will buy the Gården, though. Struer isn't exactly rocking when it comes to business hubs, and there's so much land out there if you do want to build anything.
think it’s always been referred as “Gården” in the Danish catalogues, and “The Farm” internationally.
The letter “Å” is only used in the Scandinavian contries Denmark, Sweden and Norway.....
you don’t need three tongues to pronounce it, but you are in great risk of damaging the one you have😉
“Gård” means Farm!!
“En Gård” means A Farm!!
And Gården means The Farm😊
That’s a little lesson in the strange Danish language🤔😀
Søren
B&O's drawing from before restoration of Innovation Lab Factory 4 in Struer.
/ Peter Pan
Wonder what the Chinese word for Garden is? And is it hard to pronounce?
Gården (danish) = Garten (in German) = farm (in english) :?
In English 'Garden' means somewhere you can sit outdoors for around 2-3 weeks a year in total...
Stereomensch: Gården (danish) = Garten (in German) = farm (in english) :?
Gården (danish) = Hof/Hofstelle (in German) = farm (in englishj :!
Just because of a couple of sheep 😉
I'm sure many of the employees gained a strong sense of pride in the company while working in that building.
Very sad, indeed. Sad because this building is strongly associated with the brand in my mind and something I always admired. One of those things you always expect to be around. As others have said - foundational.
I understand the business reasons behind the move (have personally experienced hard changes to an office) but this is one I definitely did not see coming.
Beo4 'til I die!
Without shepherd
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L
OldJack: Gården (danish) = Hof/Hofstelle (in German) = farm (in englishj :! Just because of a couple of sheep 😉 MM Without shepherd
Shepherd duties have been outsourced to China...
I guess it makes business sense but does seem a shame - bit like the decommissioning of BBC TV Centre which I worked in and used to be proud of the BBC as it was so iconic and part of their DNA.
Can't help but compare the two - now the BBC churns out the odd good programme but on the whole it is just stuff to please the masses.
Jeff: L OldJack: Gården (danish) = Hof/Hofstelle (in German) = farm (in englishj :! Just because of a couple of sheep 😉 MM Without shepherd Shepherd duties have been outsourced to China...
Remote controlled from there.....thanks to Huawei.
It is sad news to see the Farm going but, more importantly than that, what's the situation with the new Cube?
AdamS: ... the new Cube?
... the new Cube?
Which ‘new Cube’?
I’m sure I read a while back that there was a new ‘bigger and better’ Cube being built as the existing one is now part of Soundhub Denmark.
I might have imagined it, however...