OTTO opens new headquarters in Hamburg

Over a five-year construction period, a warehouse built in 1969 was transformed into a state-of-the-art New Work environment on the Otto Group Campus. OTTO also decided to convert the building rather than build a new one for ecological reasons. In future, a total of 1,600 workstations, 170 meeting rooms, three event areas and eight large social spaces, which serve as meeting places and break rooms and provide free drinks, will be spread across 25,000 m² of workspace. The redesigned building will offer space for over 3,000 employees in desk-sharing mode. The central design element of the new OTTO headquarters is a large, light-flooded atrium: an eight-storey, open atrium with a height of 38 meters was precision-milled into the 40,000 m² building over several months.

Dr. Peter Tschentscher, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg: "OTTO is a traditional Hamburg-based company that has remained at the cutting edge throughout its 75-year history. Today, OTTO operates the largest online shop in Germany and combines its economic success with active promotion of the innovation and startup scene in Hamburg. The new corporate headquarters in Hamburg-Bramfeld offers modern, attractive workplaces. It is a commitment by the international group to its traditional location in the Hanseatic city. OTTO is one of the largest companies in Hamburg and is a strong pillar of the economy in the north."
Prof. Dr. Michael Otto, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Otto Group: "The new OTTO headquarters is a widely visible sign for the future of OTTO and the Otto Group. 75 years after the founding of the then Otto Versand, the investment in a new, state-of-the-art corporate headquarters for the individual company OTTO is a clear commitment to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. As the largest online shop from Germany, OTTO will continue to play a significant role in shaping the future of online retail from its historical location in Hamburg-Bramfeld."

Katy Roewer, OTTO Executive Board Member for Service & HR: "Especially in our hybrid work world, which efficiently combines home office and on-site work, there is more need than ever for a place where people like to come together regularly and develop ideas together. The new OTTO headquarters is exactly that: a space for togetherness, communication, and collaboration. With our new headquarters, we are taking New Work to a whole new level. I am very proud of that."

New Work at the highest level

In designing the new work environments, OTTO follows the "Activity Based Working" principle. Here, employees choose their workplace as best suits them to accomplish their tasks. There is no mandatory back-to-office rule for everyone: when, how, and where one works is decided by the teams individually according to the project situation. The result is a fully hybrid work environment that seamlessly combines on-site and remote work and fosters agile collaboration. There are no fixed workstations or private offices in the new OTTO headquarters – this also applies to the top management.

Selfie Light, Video Call Stations, and "Digital Campfires"

All employees have access to different workplaces and stations in the new OTTO headquarters, which can be freely used depending on the activity. There are conventional, height-adjustable desks as well as extra-large team tables, think tanks for spontaneous meetings, phone booths with touchscreen and "Selfie Light," or special pair-programming stations where programmers can code together. "Audiotheques" with acoustically shielded workstations are available specifically for phone calls and video calls, and there are library areas for quiet work. Special video lounges ("Digital Campfires") with 270° zoom cameras, dual screens, and highly sensitive ceiling microphones enable hybrid meetings at the highest level. Project teams can use lockable, modularly designed workspaces ("project garages"). More than 2,000 electronically lockable lockers are available for employees to store personal belongings and work tools.

60s Architecture in a New Guise

Architecturally, the new OTTO headquarters presents an inspiring mix of tradition and modernity. The Hamburg architect Werner Kallmorgen, who also planned the Otto Group's headquarters, the Spiegel building in the old town of Hamburg, and the Kaispeicher A, on which the Elbphilharmonie now stands, had designed the former OTTO warehouse building in the 1960s. The Hamburg architectural firm akyol kamps planned the current conversion.
Many parts of the old warehouse building could be preserved and brought into the present. These include exposed, load-bearing concrete columns with a height of over 30 meters and former freight elevators, whose broken shafts now boast floor-to-ceiling windows and white exposed concrete – and are used as workplaces. The monochrome-designed, open work environments in an industrial style impress with punctual color highlights, glass, metal, and a lot of daylight. For the furniture, OTTO focuses on durability and uses a large number of refurbished pieces. New furnishings were mainly acquired for special areas such as video lounges and social spaces.

Resource-saving reconstruction

Sustainability and ecology played an important role in the reconstruction. In addition to the good building substance, the high potential for saving resources such as building materials spoke in favor of the reconstruction of the former warehouse building. As part of the reconstruction, the building was comprehensively insulated according to current energy standards to ensure efficient and environmentally friendly operation. Only triple-glazed aluminum windows were installed. State-of-the-art heating-cooling ceilings regulate energy-efficient temperature control. Like the entire Otto Group Campus, the new OTTO headquarters is also powered by certified green electricity and is connected to the Hamburg district heating network.

OTTO would like to thank the project team and the approximately 90 partners involved in the construction, including the architectural firm akyol kamps, Hamburg (planning), HW-Ingenieure GmbH & Co. KG (construction management), Lindner SE (interior construction), Theo Urbach GmbH & Co KG (structural work), ENGIE Deutschland (technical equipment), MEBAN WST GmbH (façade and windows), and Schindler Deutschland AG & Co. KG (elevators).