New from old: ORGATEC

When ORGATEC 2018 opens its doors in Cologne from 23 to 27 October, around 60,000 trade visitors from all over the globe, who want to inform themselves about the future of modern worlds of work, are awaited again. The leading international trade fair for the modern working world presents integrated solutions and overall concepts for everything connected with the office as a working and living space office.

And as the world of work changes, so does architecture. Many offices and hotels built in the recent past are already out of step with current trends. Instead of tearing them down, more and more developers are focusing on the potential of these old buildings and opting to refurbish them. But what needs to be considered when bringing such buildings back to life? And what are the prospects for a sustainable commercial property? These questions – and many more besides – will be discussed at architectureworld and Deutscher Hoteltag (German Hotel Day), which will be held for the first time as part of ORGATEC from 23 to 27 October 2018.

The view is truly breathtaking. From its upper floors, Finnlandhaus (Finland House) in Hamburg, Germany, gives a panoramic view over the two river-fed lakes, the Außenalster and Binnenalster, and across the centre of the metropolis on the River Elbe. As well as this magnificent view, those working in the office tower, built in 1966, also enjoy a modern working environment with sixties charm. The ageing high-rise with its unusual suspended design was recently renovated and optimised to meet the requirements of a modern, multi-tenant building. The revitalisation process not only adapted the interior to suit today’s office use, it also restored the original façade.

Sustainable preservation of existing structures
Today, one of the most important tasks for architects and developers is to breathe new life into outdated properties. In major cities in particular there are a high proportion of buildings constructed in the recent past that need to be brought up to date. The facilities and technology in buildings from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s no longer meet current requirements. They are often centrally located properties that are no longer easily marketable but have great potential. Take old buildings such as the Finnlandhaus in Hamburg or the Dreischeibenhaus in Düsseldorf, for example. Both office towers were constructed in the 1960s by HPP Architekten, later awarded listed building status and eventually modernised by the same firm of architects. “In the future, renovations and conversions will play an even more important role,” says Joachim H. Faust, Managing Director of HPP. “After all, the true sustainability of such projects – in addition to energy-efficiency improvements – lies in preserving existing structures, especially in the case of listed properties.”

Resources with added value
“New work” is changing the world of work and thus also the demands placed on modern offices and business hotels. More and more often, therefore, architectural revitalisation also involves old buildings that are not listed as historical monuments. According to Managing Partner at aib, Kai-Uwe Lompa, “the refurbishment of an inner city building is always worthwhile when the existing building shell has the right characteristics with respect to room dimensions, load-bearing capacity, fire protection and parking.” The Duisburg-based firm of architects has a lot of experience of refurbishment projects. Lompa sees the added value of a renovation project from an environmental and commercial perspective: “The most expensive part of the building – the shell, and perhaps the façade too, if it’s good quality – can be retained, thus reducing the investment needed and thereby improving the rate of return.”

Old and new, creatively combined
It’s not unusual for existing buildings to feature architecture that is generally not seen in a positive light by those outside the profession. The quality of these structures often only becomes apparent after modernisation – especially when creative ideas are used to combine the old and the new. This can lead to 1960s constructions, previously divided into small units, becoming open-plan offices and to grey administrative buildings from the 1970s being transformed into colourful hotel concepts. While a spacious feel was often sacrificed in the past in favour of the maximum exploitation of space, contemporary projects are once again focusing on the former. Another decisive aspect of refurbishment work lies in making optimisations for sustainability. According to statistics from Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI), 40 per cent of the country’s total energy consumption goes into the running of its building stock. And commercial properties in particular have great potential when it comes to saving energy and resources.

Extensive congress programme
“Anyone who wants to earn money in property today must look to the existing building stock and make optimisations there,” agrees Andreas Schlote, Managing Partner at REC Partners. As a property expert, he specialises in areas including refurbishment, which he believes offers a wealth of possibilities. “You just have to recognise the opportunities and develop new ideas for exploiting them,” says Schlote. At ORGATEC, he will explain which factors are the most important in projects of this kind. Together with other renowned experts, he will explore forward-looking architectural issues at the architectureworld and Deutscher Hoteltag (German Hotel Day) congress. Both events will take place in Cologne from 23 to 27 October as part of ORGATEC. They will support the leading international trade fair for the modern working world with a varied lecture programme.