Architect of the new OTTO headquarters: "The people and the furniture bring color to the building"

Hossein, how did you get involved in designing the conversion of the new OTTO headquarters? What were the specific requirements for the building?

At the end of 2016, I was asked if I had any ideas on how to transform the vacant logistics building into a usable space. I found the idea of working with the existing building very appealing instead of demolishing it and rebuilding it. Around 1,600 workstations were to be created in the new headquarters on an area of 25,000 m². Even back then, agile New Work working methods were the focus of the redesign. But of course nobody could have foreseen Covid-19. We didn't have to significantly adjust the originally planned number of workstations, but we did have to specify the use once again. I am very pleased with the experts from our space planning department and the FutureWork team, whose conceptual support helped us to bring the term "New Work" to life.

How exactly does the building concept support New Work?

Using the desk-sharing principle, the new building now offers space for over 3,000 employees, who can choose their place of work according to the "activity-based working" principle to best suit the tasks at hand. There are no fixed workstations or individual offices. This also applies to our board members.

The second floor is purely a conference area. There are project garages where employees can book in to work together in partially enclosed areas. The building has telephone booths with touchscreens and "selfie lights" as well as "audio libraries" with acoustically shielded workstations that are available specifically for telephone calls and video calls. Separate library areas provide space for quiet work. Special video lounges with 270° zoom cameras, double screens and highly sensitive ceiling microphones allow hybrid meetings with the best audiovisual transmission. These are just a few examples.

What was the inspiration for the visual design of the new headquarters?

It was clear to me that the character of the building should not be changed. I wanted to preserve the vision of Walter Kallmorgen, who designed the building in the 1960s. But also that of Werner Otto, who commissioned the building at the time. However, all of this was to be combined with modern architecture. We achieve this through the industrial style, which is very contemporary, but at the same time takes the history of the building into account. So instead of hiding this origin, we deliberately play with it.

In what way?

For example, by implementing visible installations. In many places in the building, you can see the cables above the ceiling. Where they would normally be concealed, here they emphasize the industrial character. The same goes for the exposed, load-bearing concrete columns. We work a lot with glass to bring in light. One example is our former goods elevators, whose shafts we have broken open and fitted with floor-to-ceiling windows and white exposed concrete. They can be used as workstations and offer a great view. Thanks to the desk-sharing principle, employees could theoretically enjoy a new view every day [laughs].

We have also kept the floor coverings rather minimalist in terms of pattern and color scheme, which also underlines the industrial character. In general, the color concept is mainly limited to black and white.

Doesn't that quickly make it cold and sterile?

On the contrary. We don't do without color altogether. But we use it as an accent. Our credo was: the people and the furniture bring color into the building. That's why this is particularly evident in the furniture in the circulation areas and our social spaces, where colleagues can come together for a coffee or just a chat in between, for example. In these areas, we create different themed worlds, such as garden, sea, beach and meadow, which play with the respective motifs in an abstract way.

What is the architectural centerpiece of the building?

Visits to the building show time and again that the light-flooded atrium creates a real wow effect. When you look down from the eighth floor into the atrium from a height of around 38 meters, it's quite astonishing. It's always a special moment for the whole team. The atrium was precision-milled into the building over a period of months. Around 1,000 m² of cut-out was removed from each floor and four bridges were inserted in their entirety. That was a real mammoth task! We reworked over 5,000 m² per floor and removed countless supports. These enormous loads first had to be absorbed elsewhere. It's gigantic what has been done here in terms of statics alone over the past few years.

What are you looking forward to most about the opening?

The reactions. And to see how the building fills with life and becomes a place where people feel comfortable and enjoy going to work. I think we've succeeded in doing that.

Thank you very much, Hossein.