In 2017, Castellum started what would become the property industry’s first innovation lab. The lab, called Next20, was started to take the lead in digitalisation and development of services for the work life of the future. In just a short time, several projects have been completed and numerous services have been created.
During the year, Castellum put together a strong in-house development team for apps, digital platforms and AI. The team works flexibly – an approach that generates innovative power and a richness of ideas among employees.
New insights increase innovative power
Castellum endeavours to combine technological expertise with knowledge about human behaviour. Data analysis creates insights that can be developed into services and solutions that tenants and employees can benefit from.
With knowledge about properties and their inhabitants comes the capacity to improve. Data-driven knowledge can develop self-learning buildings and make daily living easier for both tenants and property owners. It also provides conditions for creating new smart phone services for them.
With the co-working company United Spaces and the Eminent property as testing arenas, Castellum began collecting data in a “structured data lake” in 2020. Once the lake is sufficiently full, it will be possible to use artificial intelligence in earnest.
One example of service is the United Spaces app, which contains an information stream, the possibility of booking meeting rooms and workplaces, purchasing relevant services and, not least, creating contacts and networking with others. Accessy is additionally included, with digital access to workplaces, conference rooms, work-out opportunities, bicycles, cars and more.
The office as a living laboratory
In 2020, the newly-constructed Eminent office building in Malmö served as a testing arena for innovative solutions in order to develop, over the long term, a self-learning building: a smart connected property that can predict disruptions to operation, act and manage discrepancies and faults. Approximately 3,500 sensors monitor how stairwells, lifts, conference rooms, terraces and garages are used in the building’s 9,600 square metres. In addition to data from the sensors, data concerning energy as well as control and regulation technology is also collected and analysed using machine learning and AI.
The scalable platform that has been developed in Eminent will become a tool for integrating data from Castellum’s other properties and transforming insights into new smart solutions.
