Nikola Corporation Furnishes Entire

Corporate Headquarters with

Applied Ergonomics

THE CHALLENGE

As a burgeoning high-profile startup, Nikola prepared to migrate its corporate headquarters from a temporary space in Salt Lake City, UT to a new 180,000-square-foot office and prototype production facility in Phoenix, AZ, the Director of Facilities recruited Applied Ergonomics to incorporate cutting-edge ergonomic workstations and inspiring furniture throughout.

THE SOLUTION

Over the course of nearly a year in collaboration with Nikola and the building architect, the Applied Ergonomics team worked long-distance to develop a furniture plan that would reflect Nikola’s dynamic culture of excellence, provide exceptional value, and help enable world-class collaboration and innovation.

With its striking highly detailed zero-emission commercial vehicles, Nikola is on a mission to transform the transportation industry while improving its employees’ lives and leaving the world a better place. Thus, a stunning headquarters well-appointed with ergonomic and sustainable furniture that flows and functions just as well as its remarkable looks was befitting. Moreover, the Applied Ergonomics team relied on decades of experience to select furniture that also maintained an optimal balance of superior quality, great value, and exceptional durability for years of use.

THE RESULT

Our project for Nikola has been so successful, and so durable, that much of the furniture that we developed for Nikola has become the basis for ergoFocus, a stand-alone brand of ergonomic furniture created by Applied Ergonomics.

THE APPROACH

When approaching multi-faceted initiatives such as this, Applied Ergonomics collaborates with the client on a spectrum of goals to understand and think through their goals for the building so that the interiors will serve them well over time. These include:

- Rethinking how spaces can be most ergonomically flexible to support workplace health and well-being in a world reshaped by Covid.

- Planning related to using the space to attract and retain top talent or as a sales tool with potential clients.

- Anticipating headcount growth and ensuring space planning is efficient and realistic so that each employee has the expanse, storage, tools, and acoustic and visual privacy to do their job without distractions and collaborate as appropriate.

- Engaging in product selections that support sustainability objectives.

- Honoring the work of the architect with complementary interior design.

- Achieving the highest level of excellence possible so that it reflects favorably on those who invited Applied Ergonomics to collaborate on their project, whether that is an architect, designer, or client.

MANUFACTURERS USED

Furniture: ergoFocus™, ErgoAdvantage, Artopex, Cumberland, Hag by Flokk, Inscape, JSI Group, Keilhauer, Metalwork, OFS, Okamura, Tuohy, and Via Seating.

Photography: Photos by Michael Duerinckx Photography.

THE STORY/THE BLUEPRINT

Applied Ergonomics was engaged by Nikola’s Director of Facilities to work within the plans created by a Utah-based architect whose contract scope did not include furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E). With limited access to the architects, the Applied Ergonomics team assembled and shared a presentation of furniture systems that could serve the needs uncovered during the initial exploratory process. This led to a productive collaborative dialogue with Nikola and the architect over the following months and once the client was ready to move ahead, the Applied Ergonomics team created a plan for the entire building on spec.

large blue transportation truck on display

Initially, the open areas were planned with Inscape System workstations to take advantage of its industry-leading reconfigurability. However, despite misgivings about how to run power and data cabling efficiently and neatly, the panel system was ultimately set aside to maximize space utilization, which helped enable the headcount to grow from the planned 300 to roughly 600 in the same footprint.

Collaborative spaces were important to Nikola and are spread throughout the building in both enclosed breakout rooms and in team workspaces. The Applied Ergonomics team custom fabricated long rectangular and round bistro tables for various team areas, as well as huddle room tall peninsula and small meeting room tables.

The few executive offices in the building were designed primarily as collaborative team meeting spaces. Multiple mid-sized conference rooms are spread throughout the building.

The mezzanine area overlooking the impressive lobby/showroom has three lounge seating areas for impromptu chats.

The board room, with a sculptural, custom-engineered 30-foot Okamura V conference table reminiscent of a Japanese bridge flanked by Via Vero chairs, is one of the team’s most beautiful to date.

Our project for Nikola has been so successful, and so durable, that much of the furniture that we developed for Nikola has become the basis for ergoFocus™, a stand-alone brand of ergonomic furniture created by Applied Ergonomics.

This includes our American-made ergoFocus™ Inspiration series of height adjustable desks with domestic FSC-certified (responsible forestry) worksurfaces. Our Nikola meeting room chairs also created the basis for the ergoFocus task chairs, Engage, Allure, and Sustain. The monitor arms are the Flow arm from our ErgoAdvantage line. The steel mobile pedestal files with cushion tops are also American-made and available in the ergoFocus™ line. View the complete ergoFocus™ product line here.

Another notable success has been the HÅG Futu as the sole task chair for everyone. It is a deceiving design, small in scale but universally loved by the employees, including those who are broader and/or taller in stature. The unique “Hag in Balance” mechanism allows for very natural movement and great support.

As is the norm with HÅG, the durability of the Futu has also proved to be exceptional with zero repairs required for hundreds of chairs after 2 ½ years of use. It’s also worth noting that as the greenest chair manufacturer in the world, HÅG is very much in alignment with Nikola’s mission. Applied Ergonomics is proud to be the largest contract dealer for HÅG in the United States.

Enjoy a Complimentary Copy of the Nikola Case Study.