WESEL, Germany - At its headquarters in Wesel, Germany, ALTANA Group has inaugurated an office building with a cutting-edge work environment. On two levels with a total area of around 3,000 square meters, workplaces are available for some 140 employees of ALTANA’s and its BYK division’s IT and digitalization departments. The company invested 9 million euros in the new work environment. The first employees are already moving into the complex, and more will follow gradually.
ALTANA intends to use the new work environment to strengthen cooperation between the specialist departments in the form of a competence center. In the offices, the ALTANA Group’s IT and digital projects are to be handled and promoted under one roof. “We are offering our employees a highly modern work environment that enables and fosters simple and fast communication, optimal networking, flexible teamwork and focused individual work,” explained ALTANA Management Board member Stefan Genten. “In addition, with the new work environment we are enhancing our attractiveness as an employer, especially for highly qualified experts from the IT and digitization sectors.”
With the new building, ALTANA has created a barrier-free office environment with sun protective glazing where many people can work in an open space in a generously planned area. The way in which the individual elements of the office landscape are arranged ensures a particularly high acoustic standard and thus caters to concentrated work. The building is equipped with state-of-the-art telecommunications and IT technology. For example, the computers are networked completely wirelessly via WLAN. The equipment also includes electric height-adjustable desks, seating areas, conference booths, lounge-like relaxation areas, and open bistro corners. The new office also has its own garden.
When planning the new building, mineral building and insulating materials were used in the construction, and highly efficient ceiling induction devices create a good climate. In addition, the building’s heating and cooling are supplied directly via heating and cooling pipes from the adjacent production facility in Wesel. A ventilation system with heat recovery is also used. The building also offers covered bicycle parking spaces and charging sockets for electric cars.
The construction of the new office world was preceded by extensive research and analysis. For instance, several office space concepts from various large companies were evaluated and compared with the work requirements of ALTANA’s and BYK’s IT and digitalization departments. The employees were also extensively involved in the development of the new working environment. They jointly propounded a vision for cooperation in the new office world and were able to participate directly in the planning during workshops, actively shaping their future workplaces, for example in the choice of office furniture. An internal platform provided detailed and continuous information about the project.
For ALTANA, the project has a pilot character. The experiences with the new work world will play a decisive role in the company’s future room and building planning.
