Reference Helaba

For the individual corporate culture this means that structures need to be created where customer requests can be responded to faster and more flexibly – creating a working environment which produces new ideas. Frank Kauertz, head of Facility and Building Management at Helaba: “We are witnessing how an office’s feelgood factor impacts motivation and in future will take on a larger role for employees as a soft factor.”

Helaba leads by example. The officescape at its Offenbach site was previously defined by traditional single-user and double-user workstations. In a pilot which Helaba realised on a 1,900 m²-large floor, an open space solution was to be designed as a new working environment which was to give the new Credit Operations department even more – and faster – possibilities to communicate and coordinate. König + Neurath were commissioned to accompany this process and co-create this transformation with a focus on the needs of employees.

To support the change process with as much backing by the staff as possible, Helaba’s architects worked hand in hand with the planners from König + Neurath. During a workshop, fitting solutions for the requests and wishes from the company’s side were worked out together.

As for the colour scheme, the bank focused on subdued hues. While the workstations come in cool, intellectual colours like grey and blue that promote concentration, the lounge chairs used in the communication zones or in the phone cubes from the NET.WORK.PLACE series form colour accents. The THINK.TANKs were also equipped with elements of this pro-communication furniture concept. The bank merely dispenses with desk sharing. “That is not our philosophy”, says Frank Kauertz, “because reality has shown that employees who are not given a dedicated workstation still end up working at the same table.”