Ovtun Eiendom, a family-owned real estate company led by Ludvig Ovtun van der Hagen, manages nearly 100 tenants across three commercial and mixed-use properties in Oslo. With tougher conditions in the commercial real estate market and rising tenant expectations, the company has found a way to create workplaces where businesses genuinely want to stay.
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"Tenant satisfaction is always our top priority," says van der Hagen. "Regardless of a company's size or number of employees, their own workplace is what matters most to them—and therefore to us as well."
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For Ovtun Eiendom, that satisfaction begins long before a tenant moves in.
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"We value tradition and the historical character of our properties. As we continue to develop both our buildings and our business, we want to preserve and strengthen those qualities," explains van der Hagen.
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Creating workplaces that respect a building's history while equipping it for modern business is a fundamental principle for the company, whose portfolio spans architectural eras from the 19th century through the late 20th century.
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"To attract the best talent, companies need to offer an office where people actually want to spend time," says van der Hagen. "We believe the office is much more than just a place to work. For many businesses, it's a core part of their identity and their employees' wellbeing, which has become increasingly important."
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Ovtun Eiendom doesn't just talk about tenant satisfaction, they actively invest in it. One of the company's key focus areas is building optimization, ensuring a seamless and efficient everyday experience for everyone working in its properties.
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"In our day-to-day operations, we love adopting local solutions such as Carrot, Defigo, and Varig. They help us maximize building efficiency while also making tenants more aware of the environmental impact of daily office life," says van der Hagen.
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As enthusiastic adopters of proptech, Ovtun Eiendom is always looking to implement solutions that improve both building functionality and tenant experience. One example is the rollout of Defigo, a digital intercom system, across all of the company's properties to provide secure and frictionless access for tenants, visitors, and property managers alike.
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"We have nearly 60 office tenants in one of our buildings, so displaying them all on a Defigo Display Unit is really the only practical solution. Anything else would be cluttered, time-consuming, and expensive," notes van der Hagen.
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After seeing how effectively Defigo streamlined visitor access and reception management at the main entrance, Ovtun Eiendom quickly expanded the system further into its buildings, installing units on selected floors outside individual office suites.
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"We operate KONTOR, a coworking concept located in Bogstadveien," says van der Hagen. "By installing Defigo on selected floors, our office tenants can welcome visitors in a professional way while managing access directly to their own office spaces."
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The benefits extend well beyond the tenants themselves; the system has also significantly reduced Ovtun Eiendom's own administrative workload.
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"We previously relied on physical key fobs that had to be manually updated every time a new user moved in. They were constantly being lost, so we kept having to replace them. With Defigo, we can now add or remove users in seconds."
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Bringing Defigo all the way to individual office suites also gives tenant companies greater flexibility and independence by putting system administration directly in their hands. And with the launch of Defigo's new, more affordable intercom solution in Fall 2026, this option will become much more accessible to businesses.
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"Each company's office administrator can manage their own team within the Defigo system," explains van der Hagen. "That minimizes the need for repetitive administrative follow-up after a tenant has moved in."
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In a demanding commercial real estate market, Ovtun Eiendom sees an opportunity to think differently.
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"Tenants are becoming more demanding in terms of what they expect from their office spaces and the services that come with them," concludes van der Hagen. "We're all becoming accustomed to seamless experiences in our everyday lives, and the office environment should be no exception."
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By integrating Defigo alongside other forward-looking proptech solutions, Ovtun Eiendom is doing more than simply meeting modern expectations; it is making day-to-day operations simpler for everyone involved. For this family-owned company, navigating a challenging market comes down to developing a deeper understanding of tenants' needs and ensuring they remain satisfied, established, and positioned for growth.

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