Work in the Park

A real working world

The largest scaling of the working world is presented, namely an entire city district. The GewerbePark Regensburg with 350 tenants, around 6,500 employees and a total leasable area of 155,000 square meters is suitable as an example of a Best Workspace because it is subject to a fundamental concept designed for future-oriented work and office worlds.

The complex of flexible building structures with a high degree of variability of use is exemplified here by two projects from 2021 and 2022. They benefit from the advantage of controlled neighborhood planning, which provides the commercial sector with optimum transport links as well as a versatile infrastructure within a five-minute radius. The urban offers include retail, gastronomy, health, children or leisure.

Communication islands

One of the commercial building examples was constructed for BSH Hausgeräte. The company employs 450 people and is striving to realize an optimized spatial and logistical network of office and laboratory workplaces – a large proportion of the office workplaces are designed as alternating workplaces. The company’s domicile, which was planned as a block with an obtuse angle following the street, was given deep floors in order to be able to accommodate a large number of daylight workstations along the lushly windowed facades.
Thanks to a space-sensitive interior design, it was possible to accompany the inevitably economical sequence of table groupings in many places with atmospherically strong and typical functional zones such as glazed meeting and brainstorming rooms or communication islands. WorkCafés” serve the vitalization.

The second example – Ruff Cycles – combines manufactory production, showroom and administration. Here, branding requirements are combined with typical company processes: The work areas should flow into each other, the style of the interior should be “loft-like” and “industrial”. In the floor plan, the sales area is directly connected to the project teams, and for joint strategy discussions and planning talks, people move briefly over to the meeting room or use the work-coffee zone. Customers who are received in the central showroom can experience the concentrated atmosphere directly and gain a feeling for the quality of a manufactory.

What do you consider to be the supporting qualities of a good workplace?

A good workplace helps employees to work more productively and at the same time with less stress. This is possible if different work areas are available according to the tasks to be performed. A good workplace also improves communication and social interaction. This also includes an attractive environment, such as green zones or service and leisure facilities, so that employees can relax quickly and easily during breaks.

Do you see any comparability in the design of living and working spaces?

In terms of waking phases, people spend significantly more time at work than at home. And in the hybrid working world, living or home office and office are increasingly competing. So offices should be at least as attractive as homes. They must give good reasons to come to the office in the morning. That’s why modern workspaces are becoming more and more “homey,” modern and loft-like. The focus is on a pleasant, relaxing atmosphere and the furnishings are becoming even more ergonomic and functional.

Which functional aspects do you consider to be the decisive ones in the future development of workspaces?

Service facilities and services for everyday needs must be offered directly at the workplace, ideally in a 5-minute environment. The workplace must also be accessible with modern and attractive mobility options (access, parking, public transport, bicycle, e-car). Buildings must be multifunctional in order to be able to respond to new requirements with adaptations at any time. There should be perfect data connectivity. And it must be possible to change work areas quickly and easily.