Twice as many employees as desks – Continental opens new headquarters

On 13 December, Continental invited 150 local political, business and cultural representatives to celebrate the official opening of its new headquarters in Hannover, Germany. It followed this up the next day with a larger event for its workforce. Many employees had by this time thoroughly familiarised themselves with the facility, as they’d begun working there a fortnight earlier.

The new building focuses on transparency and exchange, with a façade featuring plenty of glass (around 14,500 square metres) and ‘open space’ being the order of the day, with regular employees and Executive Board members alike sharing open plan offices that also offer retreats for confidential telephone calls and meetings. Instead of assigning fixed workstations to members of their teams, each department organises desk sharing. Employees book a desk via an app when coming into the office.

Naike Bennefeld, the company’s head of Sustainable Infrastructure and Utilities, says that Continental aims for around 60 per cent of its employees to be present at the head office at any given time, with the remainder working remotely. With this ratio in mind, and considering that employees take holidays, travel for business or are occasionally ill, it is unsurprising that there are only 1,200 desks available for the 2,400 employees in Continental’s new headquarters – even though Bennefeld comments that all are “very, very happy” to come to the new offices.

The 60% – those employees working in the office – can book a desk via an app (Photo: Christian Marx / NRZ)

Horsing around

They were certainly happy to attend the opening ceremony held for employees on 14 December, with Continental anticipating more than 1,600 guests. Fewer were at the official event the day before, but the entire Executive Board was present, as was the chairman of the Conti Supervisory Board, Prof. Dr Wolfgang Reitzle, who – as announced that day – intends to stand for re-election for a further two years. Political representatives included Stephan Weil, Minister-President of Lower Saxony, and Belit Onay, Hannover’s Lord Mayor. The guestlist also included members of the company’s management team.

In his welcoming speech, Continental chief executive officer Nikolai Setzer made note of the headquarters’ proximity to the Pferdeturm – the Horse Tower – a preserved late medieval watchtower that lends its name to the surrounding neighbourhood. Continental’s prancing horse logo goes together nicely with this landmark, and Setzer stated that “the horse now shines at the Horse Tower.” This horse, he added, will gallop “from Hannover out into the world.”

Continental’s Executive Board hosted around 150 guests at the official opening (Photo: Christian Marx / NRZ)

Lord Mayor Onay expressed his delight in Continental’s “clear commitment to Hannover” with the new building. “Continental made an impact on the city of Hannover with its former headquarters,” he stated. “With the new imposing building – which also marks the eastern gateway to the city centre – the company has done so again.” Onay commented that the headquarters’ six buildings feature “modern, sustainable architecture and an innovative utilisation concept” that are a “perfect fit for Hannover.”

Architecture that promotes value creation

The defining element of the complex is a 75-metre suspended bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of the campus across the six-lane Hans-Böckler-Allee, one of Hannover’s major thoroughfares. Continental has equipped the headquarters with modern communication and media technology to ensure the greatest possible flexibility when organising work around an open space concept. “The architecture we have opted for is not an end in itself. It increases our efficiency and promotes value creation,” explained Nikolai Setzer.

Not a bridge too far – just 75 metres separates both sides of Conti’s HQ (Photo: Christian Marx / NRZ)

“The structural arrangement automatically strengthens our already strong culture of innovation and networking,” added the chief executive officer. “This is because it facilitates informal, cross-divisional meetings between our teams. This spatial proximity ensures intensive dialogue and an inspiring, creative working environment.”

At the same time, Continental views its new corporate headquarters as visible evidence of its ambitions in the area of sustainability. The complex meets the German government’s pernickety criteria for climate-friendly new buildings and, accordingly, the requirements for its sustainable building quality seal. Thanks to the inclusion of green rooftops, photovoltaic systems that generate up to 300,000-kilowatt hours of electricity a year, rainwater collection and a geothermal system, the new Continental headquarters is one of the most sustainable office buildings in Europe.

The new HQ occupies both sides of a major thoroughfare (Photo: Christian Marx / NRZ)