Publication
German Design Award 2018 for the Allianz Global Digital Factory
The design concept focuses on open spaces, islands of creativity, modern furniture design and innovative media technology
Munich, November 14, 2017. The Allianz Global Digital Factory in Munich's “Werksviertel“ quarter has received the accolade of the German Design Award 2018 in the “Architecture” category. The Munich-based architectural and consulting firm conceptsued° played a crucial role in the design and worked together with Allianz SE and the architecture and design firm UNStudio from Amsterdam to develop a unique project.
The team-hub, which was honoured by the German Design Council, is the first of its kind in the global Allianz Group. Insurance and digitisation experts from this global financial services company come together to create new digital offers. “The Allianz Global Digital Factory represents a unique and future-oriented journey into the world of digitalized work. The result is a unique working environment that nourishes and intensively develops innovation, creativity, product ideas and the will to discover solutions which will take Allianz into the future” says Sven Bietau, Managing Partner of conceptsued°.
The German Design Award, which was launched in 2012, is the top international prize awarded by the Design Council and is one of the most sought-after design prizes worldwide. This prize is awarded each year in recognition of unique design trends from product and communication design which are ground-breaking within the international design landscape. The German Design Awards 2018 will take place on February 9, 2018, in Frankfurt am Main.
The jury explains its decision for awarding the German Design Award to the Allianz Global Digital Factory project as follows: „The congenially open office environment of this building contains variously designed zones for the differing work scenarios that unfold in the space. The homey decor creates a congenial and relaxed atmosphere, thus allowing this trend in office design to be implemented superbly.“
Hub of international cooperation
From the very beginning, Allianz had a very specific vision of the now award-winning design of the space: It should be “innovative, digital, but also with a warm charm. For our ‘customer journeys’ we want a working environment that is highly flexible—that allows both creative and concentrated work, as well as team-spanning ’town halls’ and more. Everything has to be multifunctional,” said Allianz Chief Digital Officer Solmaz Altin. After a competition, Allianz de-cided to bring in conceptsued° from Munich and UNStudio from Amsterdam.
The coordination required to bring together the ideas of both firms was provided by Allianz Corporate Building Solutions. “A challenge which we were very pleased to set ourselves, and which visibly led to an extraordinary result,” observes Dieter Heß, Head of Allianz CBS.
During subsequent implementation of the project, conceptsued° had joint responsibility with the Allianz CBS project management team for all services provided, from planning of require-ments, through spatial and functional design to implementation of the building work and the final furnishing plan. Dina Andersen, Project Manager for conceptsued° comments: “A design was created here for an office that resembles a converted factory loft, but reflects the innova-tive power of the digital age everywhere in the building.”
Over more than 2,700 square metres of floor space, up to 120 experts from the Allianz Group have been working on digitally and internationally applicable solutions since the end of 2016. They regard the Allianz Global Digital Factory as a hub which brings together international cooperation and entrepreneurial ideas and activities.
Flowing transitions between communication and working processes
To achieve this aim, the rooms are designed to ensure that a flowing transition is possible between various different communication and work processes. Almost every surface can be used for drawing visualisations. Partition walls which can be written on separate individual areas from one another. Digital content can be supplied to almost all the venues via media technology. Rolling furniture makes it easy to enlarge or reduce the size of a working team at a moment’s notice. Digital and automatic light controls improve working conditions at different times of day.
“Our international experts have been working for almost twelve months in an innovation hub of the highest technical and spatial level. We appreciate that the Design Council has hon-oured the Allianz Global Digital Factory with its internationally-respected German Design Award,” says Anne Kötter, Interior Architect and Project Manager at Allianz CBS.
At conceptsued°, Dina Andersen, Sven Bietau, Anna Gnizdiukh, Kerstin Littel, Sabrina Menke and Hannah Winklmann played the leading roles in creating the Global Digital Factory.
More information on the Allianz Global Digital Factory is available online at:
globaldigitalfactory.allianz.com/
About conceptsued° – tenant and corporate consulting
conceptsued gmbh was established in 2003 and advises international companies on all aspects of the crea-tive and functional decisions associated with a tailor-made office concept. The more than 50 interdisciplinary consultants, architects and corporate real estate managers offer operational efficiency studies, corporate consultancy and project management all from a single source. The services offered by conceptsued° include advice on selecting commercial real estate, help with relocation and moving into new premises, and innova-tive ways of redesigning the working environment. conceptsued° also provides support for change manage-ment processes if desired. Most crucially, the client’s works councils and employees are involved in all major decisions, which ensures a positive working climate and an efficient business. Sven Bietau and Timo Brehme are the directors of conceptsued gmbh. In addition to its headquarters in Munich, the company has branches in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf and Vienna.
conceptsued gmbh has established a partnership with the Faculty of Architecture at OTH Regensburg. It sponsors the Society of Property Researchers (Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung – gif e.V.) and is involved in the “Stiftung Werte Stipendium” scholarship foundation. conceptsued° is also an ac-tive member of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), in particular the expert pool for tenant-specific building improvements.More information is available online at: www.conceptsued.com.
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