The German office landscape is changing. However, it is still unclear in which direction. Hardly any experts are willing to commit themselves at the moment. Will there be less demand for space because the home office is becoming established? Or will demand increase because the trend is moving away from open-space offices to individual cubicles, which in turn means more space is needed?
In any case, more VDU jobs are continuously needed. 270,000 new jobs were created in 2019, around 100,000 of which were new office jobs. In 2015, 323,700 office buildings existed in Germany with a total usable space of 382.4 million square meters. Demand to the construction industry remains high. Not least because office buildings have a significantly shorter useful life than residential buildings and are thus not only refurbished at shorter intervals but repeatedly replaced in their entirety by new buildings.
When it comes to office buildings, developers are under pressure to make them attractive: Currently, the topic of sustainability ranks high on the wish list. Energy-saving lighting and air systems, a pleasant working environment and quality are in demand. We at CHRISTMANN + PFEIFER (C + P) have noticed that office properties are becoming more individual, more comfortable, more flexible and more diverse. The charm of gray office rooms and typing pools is a thing of the past in times of a shortage of skilled workers. It may be a little more.
As a construction services provider, we have positioned our product range accordingly. Traditionally coming from steel construction, we have long since also realized massive turnkey buildings and have recently started offering office buildings in modular construction. "The requirements have simply become more diverse: How durable, sustainable or versatile a building is, varies greatly," notes Managing Director Rolf Heinecke. "C + P offers a whole construction kit for all those who want to build an office building. With us, you can put together services, construction methods and materials individually, even down to the finished interior design."
A joint project together with a building owner can, for example, already start with the planning, or even with the search for a plot of land. If C + P is already on board during integral planning and the building is sketched on the 3D model from the beginning using the BIM (Building Information Modeling) method, an extremely sustainable foundation can be laid for a further smooth realization process. "The fact that we can model, produce and execute at the same time is certainly one of our strengths," explains Managing Director Heinecke.
Of course, C + P also offers "only" the pure construction services on request - for example, the design, manufacture and assembly of a steel frame. However, we are often asked to act as general contractor for the construction of office buildings and coordinate that all trades on the construction site are perfectly and quickly interlocked - on request turnkey and up to the interior furnishing. The building material used and whether it is solid or modularly prefabricated is optional. In general, the more that comes from a single source, the easier it is in terms of schedule, cost and quality reliability.
It is surprising how different new office buildings and office space can be. Or maybe not. Because at C + P there are no limits to size, design and implementation. Sounds a bit like the wishful thinking fairy, but above all it is one thing: the sum of almost 100 years of experience as a construction service provider.
Adjacent photos no. 1+2:
Master class office building: C + P realized an office building with high demands on design and aesthetics at the office furnisher INWERK in Biebertal.
Adjacent photo no. 3:
Whether large or small, functional or unusual in design: office buildings must first and foremost fulfill their individual purpose. Like here the small and fine turnkey realized company headquarters of Römer Verwaltungs KG in Grünberg. In case things need to move faster: C + P also offers buildings of this type prefabricated in series in modular construction.
