ÖAMTC OÖ | Plöderl Heinz

In the competition for skilled labour the environment of the workplace is gaining more and more importance today. Entrepreneurs therefore tend to focus on urban factors concerning the choice of location, but also increasingly on creating beautifully designed workplaces. Sophisticated architecture becomes a competitive advantage in the labour market and turns out to be a major factor in the recruitment and motivation of the employees of a company. In addition, more and more companies recognize that the architecture of their operation and administration buildings is an essential component representing their company’s corporate Identity: The ÖAMTC is always there when you need it. In the case of ÖAMTC the client wanted a competence centre - modern, innovative, competent and powerful - for the optimal care of its members and staff training. The new ÖAMTC bases are located in industrial areas as part of confusingly similar no man's land, which architect Plöderl assesses as urban diffuse situations, not comparable with the spatial qualities of central areas. As typical and crucial for the design he considers rather the arbitrariness of the situation, the ambiguity about the focus of urban development and the neutrality of the site in terms of development. In conclusion this requires a coherent position of the building, which uses the clearly defined, elongated overall shape of the building and the existing potential of the property. It structures by position and mapping the outdoor spaces as an accentuating room sequence. With four differently formulated sides it respectfully combines in confident presence the existing topography and the urban environment. The concept is focused on a customer-friendly, accessible and ergonomic design, which provides in addition to offices and social rooms also own seminar rooms for the continuous training and development of employees. Tangible corporate identity in the form of facade filling headlines is part of the program as well as the ubiquity of the colour yellow. Due to intelligence and accuracy in the detailing process (spatial joints, material transitions, incidence of light) this competence centers differ pleasantly from the exclusive surface infatuation of comparable built contemporaries. The company's logo colours black and yellow bear a coherent concept, the cantilevered element of the shell to the details of the interior. By linking different work and communication processes logically the team performance has risen impressively by means of an attractive environment: The ÖAMTC bases provide more than the necessary infrastructure, but it loosens the standards of industrial standard in commercial construction by carefree freshness. The successful concept not only leads the buildings out of a typological anonymity and awards the individual bases not only high profile but is presented with large identity conveying luminous letters advertising corporate identity – ‘A good feeling to be with the club.’