Erste Group lays cornerstone of new headquarters

Erste Group laid the cornerstone of its new headquarters. The new headquarters is being built on the site of the future Central Station and will be completed in 2016.

For Andreas Treichl, CEO of Erste Group, the new headquarters is the fulfilment of the dream of “being able to offer our employees a central workplace and eliminate the necessity to spend so much time traveling from one office to another”. At present, Erste Group is spread across 20 different locations in Vienna. The new offices have a clear strategic element for Treichl: “As a leading bank for Central and Eastern Europe, we are now geographically oriented towards these countries with our new headquarters. At the same time, we remain loyal to our heritage as a traditional Austrian bank.” Erste Campus is directly next the new Vienna Central Station and is a historic site. The Südbahnhof train station was not only the most prized railway station of the Austrian monarchy, but for many people it was also a gateway to the empire.

“But Erste Campus will also be part of the future of Vienna,” explained Herbert Juranek, member of the Management Board of Erste Group responsible for the construction project. “Its curved, open architecture combined with a ground zone accessible to the public, makes the new building an inspiring highlight of the new city district “Quartier Belvedere” being created. Soon, up to 1,000 workers will work daily on the large construction site – roughly the size of three football fields – to build Erste Campus. Over 100 companies will work to create a modern, dynamic and appealing urban landscape.

The new headquarters of Erste Group, designed by the architects Henke & Schreieck, will provide around 4,500 workplaces with a gross usable floor space of 117,000 m². The concept behind Henke & Schreieck’s design was to integrate urbanity and nature in the architecture. The green space extends into the Schweizer Garten that covers 7,500 m² of landscaped garden and forms the link between the green zone and the offices. The large glass façade enhances the workplace quality for each employee.