The new AUSTRIA CAMPUS in Vienna’s second district covers an area larger than that of the Pentagon in Washington, and its capacity is such that it could provide jobs for a number of small towns.
UniCredit Bank Austria’s new headquarters on the AUSTRIA CAMPUS are the location for UniCredit Bank Austria, UniCredit’s Vienna-based CEE units, and all UniCredit Group companies in Vienna. About 5,300 employees will experience an entirely new working environment there, in two buildings with about 60,000 square metres of office space.
The new headquarters of UniCredit Bank Austria house an office landscape which takes account of contemporary working life: open-design workplaces with state-of-the-art technology, in light, spacious rooms – embedded between grass-covered open spaces which also serve as recreation zones.
The Austria Campus was built by SIGNA to the plans of the star architect Boris Podrecca; based on the directives of UniCredit, the new headquarters of UniCredit Bank Austria are larger, designed to meet the needs of employees on the lines of modern work practices.
The centrepiece is an innovative office landscape for new working methods and models. An open-design office structure ensures improved communication and information. With the realisation of the “SmartWorking” concept employees can work on a mobile basis anywhere on the Campus, or from home through remote work arrangements, or when they are travelling.
The location is served by Vienna’s public transport network: it can be easily reached by Vienna’s underground trains, regional train, tram or bus. A further benefit is the fast train service to Vienna International Airport.
The integration of ecological and sustainability criteria was a top priority in the construction of the Austria Campus as a whole, and the project has pursued LEED certification as green building and DGNB/ÖGNI certification as blue building. In addition, UniCredit Bank Austria is pointing the way to ecological sustainability: its own geothermal installation on the Austria Campus, a process used to recover heat from the Earth, is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. This source of energy is used in summer and winter to support heating and cooling systems while complying with all environmental regulations.
A key component of UniCredit Bank Austria’s environmental performance, which has improved steadily over the years, is the ISO 14001 environmental management system. Implemented in 2011, this will also in the future contribute significantly to the application of ecological criteria for our new headquarters.
Sustainability is a hallmark of the new working environment: efforts are aimed at reducing the volume of paper used at the workplace to an absolute minimum, while the construction of the Austria Campus pursued DGNB silver certification.
“Our new headquarters will set standards for modern work, and for cooperation in our bank’s teams and with the colleagues of UniCredit Group. On this basis, we also want to strengthen our customer orientation and employee satisfaction. A concentration of all head-office units at this state-of-the-art location will moreover enable us to achieve substantial cost effects foreseen in our “Transform 2019” plan. This new, open-design and modern work method based on the SmartWorking concept reflects our conception of an innovative, forward-looking corporate culture.”
Robert Zadrazil, CEO of UniCredit Bank Austria
UniCredit Bank Austria’s relocation to the new headquarters at the Austria Campus will result in the following savings:
- Electricity consumption: about minus 23 gwh
- Heat energy requirement: about minus 20 gwh
- The resulting reduction in CO2 emissions: about minus 7,000 tons
- Electricity savings of 23,351,776 kwh more or less correspond to the consumption of 7,784 two-person households. These 7,667 households could accommodate almost all current residents of Vienna’s first district (16,465 inhabitants).
- Savings of heat energy requirement (savings = 20,513,420 kwh) are equal to the heat energy required by 2,857 80 m2 apartments in modern buildings. This is more than double the current number of apartments in Vienna’s Karl-Marx-Hof complex (1,325 apartments).
- CO2 savings (about 5,500 tons) through lower electricity and heat energy requirements correspond to 27,760,000 km with a medium-sized diesel-powered car on a motorway. If one were to build a motorway to the moon, this would suffice for 46 trips from the Earth to the moon and back. 5,500 tons of CO2 moreover correspond to the greenhouse gas generated by the production of 417 tons of beef.
Construction data:
- Area: approx. 200,000 m2
- Office space: approx. 60,000 m2
- Buildings: 5, of which used by Bank Austria: two buildings, plus various infrastructure facilities in other buildings
In addition to the offices, the Campus includes the following facilities:
- a staff canteen a hotel
- a kindergarten a Bank Austria branch
- a medical centre a self-service branch
- a function room
- a hotel
- a Bank Austria branch
- a self-service branch
- and a unit which meets employees
New urban quarter on the site of Vienna’s old Northern Railway Station
The project is an affirmation of Vienna as both a business location and a residential city: a new urban quarter, scheduled for completion in 2025, is being developed on the site of the old Northern Railway Station. With an area of 85 hectares it will be only slightly smaller than Vienna Airport (100 hectares). The quarter will create a new, urban living space for 10,000 subsidised and privately financed apartments and 20,000 workplaces.
“The AUSTRIA CAMPUS is a key component of this core urban development area, and it is in many respects a trend-setting project. Easily accessible by road and public transport, the AUSTRIA CAMPUS is located in one of Vienna’s most dynamic regions. Valuable synergies are achieved through the CAMPUS’s proximity to Vienna’s trade fair centre and to the campus of Vienna University of Economics and Business, thereby underlining the significance of this development project. Its realisation plays a major role in Vienna’s successful urban development.”
Michael Ludwig, Vienna’s mayor designate
Boris Podrecca, architect of the Austria Campus
Boris Podrecca is the architect of the new Campus. The internationally renowned architect is full professor at the University of Stuttgart and Director of the Institute of Architectural Design and Theory of Space. Since 1982, he has also been active as guest lecturer in Lausanne, Paris, Venice, Philadelphia, London, Vienna and Harvard-Cambridge (Boston). Podrecca received the Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Federal Province of Vienna, and his honours include the title of Honorary Doctor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade.
Bank Austria’s vision is to create a working environment where all employees can contribute to the bank’s success by taking pleasure in their work. In this context, personal responsibility, flexibility and trust pave the way for a motivating corporate culture.
