IKEA Permanently Closes SPACE10 Design Research Studio

After nearly 10 years in operation, SPACE10 has announced it will be closing its doors permanently.

The Copenhagen-based studio has spent the best part of a decade acting as the research and innovation arm of IKEA, producing conceptually driven projects that would ultimately challenge and push the brand to explore new directions.

“SPACE10 was never meant to last and was set up with a very specific purpose in mind — to spark a stronger innovation culture at IKEA, build new partnerships, and create new opportunities within and around the IKEA brand,” Kaave Pour, co-founder and head of SPACE10 said in a statement released today. “We have achieved what we initially set out to accomplish and therefore it feels like the right moment to close SPACE10, let IKEA continue what we started and embark on new adventures.”

Over the years, SPACE10 prioritized innovation through its work. Questions were always the starting point for projects: How can we improve food production systems? In what ways can data be used to create a circular economy? Can we design neighborhoods to be more affordable and liveable?

These questions resulted in a varied range of outcomes: from a couch that fits into an envelope, to a “meatball of the future“.

“SPACE10 has challenged our mindset of thinking outside the box, they have been our eyes around the corner looking into the future, facilitating new partnerships and business ventures, helping us investigate how we can create a
better everyday life for the many people,” said Jon Abrahamsson Ring, CEO Inter IKEA Group. “But perhaps most significantly, the partnership between Inter IKEA and SPACE10 has motivated our internal innovation culture and inspired us in how we approach innovation at IKEA.”

To ensure SPACE10’s legacy and its information lives on, the studio has launched an archive version of its website that offers a timeline of past projects.