Foundation stone laid for new innovative Berlin office
On Wednesday, Tuomo Hatakka, head of Vattenfall Germany together with Berlin's governing mayor and developer EDGE Technologies officially laid the foundation stone for Vattenfall's new office building at Südkreuz railway station.
Michael Müller, mayor of Berlin; Martin Rodeck, Edge Technologies; Tuomo Hatakka, Vattenfall.
In 2021 around 2000 Vattenfall employees in Berlin will move into a new, sustainable and innovative office building.
"This is a good day for Berlin and for Vattenfall. With the construction of our new office buildings here at Südkreuz, our commitment to Germany as a business location and to its capital now gets a 'face'. At the same time, the far-reaching change that our company is currently undergoing is also becoming visible in a tangible way, said Tuomo Hatakka, head of BA Heat and Vattenfall Germany.
Together with Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller and project developer EDGE Technologies, the symbolic foundation stone for Vattenfall's new German headquarters was laid on Wednesday 14 August. The construction is to be completed in around 20 months and handed over to Vattenfall, who will then equip and furnish the buildings. The relocation of more than 2,000 employees to Hildegard-Knef-Platz will then begin.
Visualisation of the atrium.
Germany's largest wood hybrid building
The new building ensemble will be constructed in a sustainable wood-hybrid construction method and at the same time the largest construction of its kind in Germany.
Michael Müller, Governing Mayor of Berlin, said on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone:
"EDGE Südkreuz Berlin with its modular wood-hybrid construction will be an outstanding example of innovative and sustainable construction. In view of all the discussions and efforts to achieve climate neutrality, I am very pleased that such a modern building, which uses our natural resources very sparingly, will in future be Vattenfall's German headquarters. Above all, I would like to thank EDGE Technologies for the convincing way in which you have implemented your claim to sustainability and, in particular, technological innovation here in Berlin".
Symbol of change
By moving into a new, modern building, Vattenfall also wants to promote internal change. "I look forward to fill this building with life and today we have laid the foundation for our future. New working environments, flexible working methods and a changed working culture are essential elements of the necessary transformation process", says Tuomo Hatakka.