Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, employees can often work away from the office nowadays, from a location best suited to their task. Vodafone Germany picked up on this trend and created a modern workplace in Düsseldorf for its 5,000 employees. Cutting-edge building and access technologies installed here help the telecommunications company meet their sustainability requirements and make the campus an ideal workplace of the future.
Until the Vodafone Campus was inaugurated in 2012, the company had various divisions scattered throughout the German city. The British multinational conglomerate, with over 500 million customers and 111,000 employees worldwide, decided it was time for a more contemporary workplace — an environment where employees can reach their full potential while making the best use of their time.
The Düsseldorf architectural firm HPP designed the distinctive 86,000-square-meter company headquarters with a 19-floor, an 8-floor and a 6-floor building, with glass and aluminum façades. The Campus, built on the site of a former brewery, is within easy reach; it’s right beside the motorway junction, and a short 5-minute walk from the subway station.
Healthy work-life balance
Employees and visitors entering the buildings through a dormakaba door, equipped with swing door operators, soon notice the wide choice of workspaces. Apart from 5,400 office workspaces and further 4,000 work and sitting areas that support flexibility and ergonomics, the buildings feature 259 meeting, conference, and so-called think-tank rooms. And the best thing about this all is that the employees got to help design their own workplaces.
Vodafone sees a healthy work-life balance as essential to performing well at work, so the Campus offers comprehensive facilities and services. Employees can exercise in the fitness center, use the salon, medical center, and dry cleaner, and drop off their children at the day care center. The Berkshire Garden is perfect for a relaxing walk between tasks. And the spacious Skylounge restaurant an inviting place for a fresh and healthy meal.
Green building
Vodafone also values sustainability. The Campus features charging ports for electric vehicles, as well as a thermal power station that reduces primary energy consumption by up to 40 percent compared to traditional technologies. It’s no surprise the Campus has been awarded a LEED Gold certificate by the US-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program, a uniform standard for particularly sustainable buildings.
The dormakaba products built into the infrastructure were integral in this certification success. The enclosed design of the revolving doors for example helps saving energy when people enter and leave a building, eliminating the usual draughts. dormakaba supplied an Environmental Product Declaration with every product to confirm their resource-efficient manufacture and low production carbon footprint.
The dormakaba products installed in the building function perfectly and help us in our efforts to meet sustainability requirements. Besides the revolving doors’ superior design, we also value their optimum climate separation and convenient entry and exit, even when users are pushing trolleys or carrying luggage.
Jens Blankenburg, Head of Facility Management at Vodafone Germany
Iconic landmark
Vodafone invested 300 million euros in its Düsseldorf Campus. The many advanced building innovations and infrastructural technologies benefit both its employees and the telecommunication company itself. In the past few years, the Campus has become an impressive landmark, ranking among the most advanced office buildings in Europe.
