IBA editorial team The online retailer OTTO opened its new headquarters at its campus in Hamburg-Bramfeld in April 2024. The state-of-the-art building covers an area of 25,000 square meters and provides space for 3,000 employees. The building is an expression of OTTO’s commitment to activity-based working, desksharing, and the principle of fluid working.
Not a workplace but a source of experience
The heart of the building is the centrally located atrium, which rises upward over several floors and is an eyecatcher thanks to its light-flooded construction. At first glance, the headquarters look monochromatic with clean lines. However, the building is enlivened by its colour concept as well as the people inside and the nature of their daily work. It offers 1,600 workplaces divided into various home zones, 170 conference rooms, digital campfires, three event areas, and eight large social spaces. This wide variety supports the OTTO teams as they shape their daily work flexibly and individually. The technical equipment enables them to create a completely hybrid workday, during which they can seamlessly switch between on-site work and teleworking.
Activity-based working and desksharing
At the new headquarters, activity-based working is a priority. Employees can choose a suitable workstation according to the task at hand. Whether they’re doing concentrated individual work in the library, brainstorming in a social space or attending a conference in one of the audiotheques, the office provides them with the optimal space for each type of work. The central component of the work concept is the principle of desksharing. Fixed individual workstations are a thing of the past. Personal items and work documents are kept in lockers in the home zones. “The new headquarters have been designed to give the employees the freedom to shape their workday flexibly in line with their individual needs,” explains Ingo Bertram, a department head at the Corporate Communication division of OTTO. “Our goal was to create a work environment that makes employees enjoy coming to the office.”
The corporate culture: Activity-based working at the next level
One component of the corporate culture at OTTO is the principle of activity-based working, which however has been taken to the next level and is no longer limited to the company’s physical office space. This concept enables the employees to shape their workday flexibly and dynamically. Depending on their assignment, they switch between different work areas and choose the place that is best suited for the task at hand. For example, a workday might begin in the morning with an employee working from home, then making a telephone call in the audiotheque, followed by a team meeting in a social space and concentrated individual work in one of the libraries. The company takes the term “activity-based working” at its word. The employees are literally “in the flow”, because they can switch workrooms and places of work wherever the workflow takes them. For example, employees can also use workstations at various company locations or other places outside the company. Good technical equipment makes the hybrid workday possible.
Consequently, OTTO differs from other companies in that it has no general “back to the office” rule. It’s much more to do with the answers to the following questions: What is good for this particular team? What fills the individual needs of the team members? When does it make sense for them to come to the campus and the headquarters building? It’s part of the corporate culture to trust the employees to be able to decide for themselves where they can do their work most effectively. This is also emphasized by the design of the building.
We think in terms of activity-based working not only in the office but also beyond the campus gates — in other words, from home, in a café, at a workstation or a mobile office on a train, etc. Ingo Bertram
Design and corporate culture
The OTTO headquarters are distinguished not only by their functionality but also by their attractive design. The building’s architecture combines modern elements with industrial aesthetics. Large window areas, open spaces, and natural materials create a pleasant workplace atmosphere. Special accents are set by the varying colour concepts of the individual areas: green in the work areas, blue in the libraries and audiotheques, red in the conference rooms, and yellow in the social spaces. The atrium plays a central role in the building’s design. It not only serves as a meeting point and a communication zone but also provides optimal daylight and an open atmosphere. This is entirely in line with the corporate culture, in which well-being, dialogue, and a sense of togetherness are central elements. Thus the atrium ensures that the corporate culture is always visible.
A new benchmark for New Work
Through its headquarters, OTTO has set a new benchmark for New Work. Its innovative work concept, in connection with its special architecture, receives lots of appreciation. As Ingo Bertram emphasizes, “The fact that the employees enjoy being here should not be underestimated. If we want them to leave their home workplace nowadays, they have to enjoy being somewhere else.” The positive response can also be seen in the fact that the atrium is often used as a background for photos. Many people are especially impressed by the open staircase, which is used as a setting for various events. The monthly “UNPLUGGED” town hall meeting is held here, and the company is currently experimenting to find the perfect place for each kind of event. “We actually held the last town hall meeting on the staircase. The people were standing along the railings on the right and the left. It’s a bit like a reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s theatre,” says Bertram. “In all of the formats, we make sure we’re fulfilling the needs of the teams on site as well as those of the employees who are working remotely.” According to Bertram, this is the only way to create an inspiring place where people enjoy meeting, talking, and shaping the future together.
