Erste Campus
Das Headquarter der Erste Group.
With a surface area of 25,000 m² and a gross usable floor space of 165,000 m², Erste Campus stands out through its open, flowing architecture that fits smoothly into the historic and natural spatial context of the city. The ground floor areas are open to the public and the variety of places to eat and drink (restaurants and cafes) ensures that the Campus is different from the usual hermetic design of bank headquarters. The Campus also houses Europe’s largest financial education initiative, the “Financial Life Park” (FLiP). On over 1,400 m², students will have the opportunity to learn about the importance of finance for their personal life and the role that banks fulfil in the economy in an interactive, game-like setting.
The headquarters was designed by Henke Schreieck Architects.
With a surface area of 25,000 m² and a gross usable floor space of 165,000 m², Erste Campus stands out through its open, flowing architecture that fits smoothly into the historic and natural spatial context of the city. The ground floor areas are open to the public and the variety of places to eat and drink (restaurants and cafes) ensures that the Campus is different from the usual hermetic design of bank headquarters. The Campus also houses Europe’s largest financial education initiative, the “Financial Life Park” (FLiP). On over 1,400 m², students will have the opportunity to learn about the importance of finance for their personal life and the role that banks fulfil in the economy in an interactive, game-like setting.
The headquarters was designed by Henke Schreieck Architects.
Architecture
The architects‘ vision
It was particularly important to the architects, Henke and Schreieck, that the staff of Erste Group should feel happy about coming into the office every day; that they should feel comfortable at their place of work; and that they should feel proud about working on Erste Campus.
The curving architecture of the building creates an openness which should make it feel inviting and in touch with nature to the people who spend time on the Erste Campus. It was important to the architects, Henke and Schreieck, to create an urban cityscape through the integration of green spaces and thus to provide a motivating atmosphere and a sense of well-being. Through the open structure of the building, Erste Campus is a place where people come together and will encourage communication between them.
The four sections have been designed in such a way that changes to work processes or business areas, even retrospectively, can be accommodated at any time without any great structural alterations. What's more, the buildings have been designed to be barrier-free throughout.
- Client: Erste Group Bank AG
- Project developer: Erste Group Immorent AG
- Facility management: s OM
- Architects: Henke Schreieck Architects
- Workstations: approx. 4,000
- Total plot size: 2.5 ha
- Gross floor area: approx. 117,000 m² above ground
- Parking spaces: approx. 600
- Distance from the city centre: 2.5 km
Marta Schreieck and Dieter Henke studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After graduating, they founded their architectural firm and have since then completed many successful projects, including the k47 office complex in Vienna in 2003, the HOCH ZWEI and RUND VIER office blocks in Vienna and the University of Applied Sciences in Kufstein.
In order to find the optimal model for the Erste Campus, Erste Group on its own initiative launched an architectural competition, having put the project out to international tender. The international jury, chaired by András Pálffy, President of the Wiener Secession - Association of Visual Artists, then chose the 14 participants for the architectural competition.
The architectural competition was widely publicized in September 2007. Advertisements were placed in various daily newspapers in 29 European countries and posted on architecture platforms, inviting entries. The tender documents described, over some 300 pages, the project's visions, aims and requirements, as well as the urban planning environment. Particular value was given to the dynamic and harmonious fusion of architecture, user-friendliness, economic viability and environmental sustainability.
14 participants were selected from more than 200 architects who registered for the competition. The next step, in March 2008, was to select five designs from their input, which would be developed in more detail for the next stage of the competition. Finally, in September 2008, the winning design by Henke Schreieck Architects from Vienna was chosen.
The Erste Campus was created in respect to economic aspects as well as aspects of environment and social sustainability.
It was tested by the Austrian Sustainable Building Council (ÖGNI) in accordance with the DGNB system and has been awarded with the highest award, the DGNB platinum certificate.
Erste Campus surroundings
History of the location
The Erste Campus location is unique - it is one of the districts of Vienna most steeped in history. With cultural jewels such as the Belvedere Palace close by, this district stands for human achievement and economic progress. Even in the 19th century, the Südbahnhof railway station was not just the gateway to the south but also a military and a historical hub which held a particular attraction for many people from all parts of the empire, with all their hopes and expectations. The Erste Campus is situated right next to the new main railway station and positioned on two important transport axes for Vienna. Additionally, it also faces the Schweizer Garten park – yet another benefit for Erste Group staff. The old Südbahnhof railway station had to make way and has now become a piece of Viennese history.
Quartier Belvedere
Erste Campus is a part of the Quartier Belvedere. Just a short walk from the Vienna city centre, this new district was created within an area steeped in history, situated between the Belvedere Palace, the main railway station and the Schweizer Garten park.
The Quartier Belvedere is Vienna's newest, cosmopolitan district; a vibrant urban locale in which travellers, workers, students, families and senior citizens all come together to exchange views, live and work ...
Conveniently located amid the Wiedner Gürtel section of the ring road, Cafés, restaurants and shops breathe new life, seven days a week, into this exciting, district of Vienna. Businesses find a new location here; and families, singles and couples feel at home in the Quartier Belvedere too. The surrounding green spaces, the proximity to the city centre and also the different shops, bars, restaurants, local amenities, cultural, educational and leisure facilities all provide a new quality of life within the Quartier Belvedere.
The investors in this district provided a way of living and working here never experienced before: workers in the firms establishing themselves in this district do not immediately head home at the end of the working day, but stay on in the Quartier Belvedere together with their colleagues, with residents and with travellers and bring the day to a positive close.
The district is one of the most vibrant in the city; countless travellers are arriving here at the main railway station and turn the Quartier Belvedere into one of Vienna's most multicultural quarters. People from many countries and from a diverse range of cultures are coming here, passing through or putting down roots, and thus create a colourful mix in the Quartier Belvedere.
Office concept for new corporate culture
With a total area of 40,000 m², the Campus symbolizes the new corporate culture: the central location for around 4500 employees of Erste Holding, Erste Bank Oesterreich and its subsidiaries in Austria who, for the first time in the history of the company, will be gathered together under one roof. Before, Erste Group was distributed across more than 20 different locations in Vienna.
The new venue on the former site of Vienna’s Südbahnhof (Ostbahn), which was the train station for southbound and eastern-bound trains, carries historic symbolism - it was the most important hub that connected Austria with Central and Eastern European countries.
Team Building
The Erste Campus is a place where staff, customers and everyone who wishes to shape the future with us can come together.
For Erste Group, the new building is, first and foremost, the basis for a new working environment. The shorter distances between departments encourage team building and help to increase productivity. Staff find the new headquarter provide an inspiring and exhilarating workplace, promoting communication between individuals and teams and strengthening team cohesion. In order to translate this vision into reality, staff has been actively involved in workplace design.
Erste Group wants customers, staff and guests entering the Erste Campus to feel good about it, so that a positive feeling of community arises.
Sustainability
Erste Group not only orients its business practices to sustainable principles, but also its headquarters, Erste Campus in Vienna, is a sustainable lighthouse project of the Austrian capital.
Not only is the building distinguished by its unique architecture, but Erste Campus is also sustainable down to the last detail. Already during planning and execution, special attention was paid to a high quality of workmanship, resource saving work processes, energy optimization and responsible selection of the building materials. The wood for the façade, for example, is sourced from sustainable timber from Austrian or Central European forests, while wastewater is collected in a cistern and used as “gray water” for flushing toilets. The carpeting in the Erste Bank Oesterreich branch at Erste Campus is made of recycled fishing nets.
Powered 100% by green energy
Erste Campus is connected to the district heating and cooling network of Wien Energie. In addition, thermal energy is generated by geothermal energy and the in-house photovoltaic system produces around 250,000 kWh of electricity per year, which could supply around 125 households with electricity. It goes without saying that Erste Campus is supplied with 100 percent green electricity, which comes not only from every socket, but also from each of the 36 e-charging stations in the garage.
Challenge of 85,000 disposable cups and 21 tons of coffee grounds
In recent years numerous new initiatives have helped make Erste Group's headquarters even more sustainable. In mid-2020, for example, a reusable cup system was introduced that is now used in all restaurants located on Campus. This has already saved around 85,000 disposable cups. Meanwhile, takeaway food on Erste Campus is served in reusable glass containers to reduce packaging waste. Even the 21 tons of coffee grounds left behind each year in campus catering are given a second chance and serve as a breeding ground for food mushrooms from Hut & Stiel.
Corporate Archives
Corporate Archives is Erste Group’s long-term memory.
Historical documents from the year of Erste österreichische Spar-Casse’s foundation in 1819 right up to the recent past are stored in our depository. Certificates and records, balance sheets, company reports, meetings minutes and correspondence take up about half of the inventory. A comprehensive media collection - consisting of audio, photographic and film material - and a large collection of objects complement the paper archives and round off our memory store.
Corporate Archives stands for working on and at our corporate identity.
We start with a question framed in and by the present, and set off to search for the historical roots for it. In this way current and future-oriented corporate values can be objectively linked into, and reinforced by, a tradition. Research is conducted, using our sources and information, which writes the next chapter in Erste’s biography in a way that can be read by employees and the outside world alike. No enterprise that, right from its founding concept, was and continues to aim to be firmly anchored in society, acts autonomously in this respect. Its memory bank is also the record of a community and its individual members.
Corporate Archives provides a service to the organisation.
We work, on a project basis, together with a wide range of business areas, departments and branch offices. We provide information and historical materials, assist or curate exhibitions, produce texts, folders and Videos.
- 95.000 archive items
- 1.6 linear kilometres of storage
- 85.180 inventory numbers issued,
of which: - Fascicles / documents / certificates
- Printed matter
- Manuscripts / meeting minutes / reports
- Fotos
- Film
- Audio
- Data storage
- Saving devices: 6.800
- Historical coins: 6,480
- Posters: 900
- History of Erste und Sparkassen
- Annual reports
- Legal historic library
- General topics: money, finance, banks
- Library: 334 m2
- Depository / archive rooms: 710 m2
- Mobile shelving system: 2.4 linear kilometres of storage
Inventory (status: Mai 2019)
Written material: 25.000
Photo and media archive: 31.800
Collection 14.180
Other objects: 7.200
Library: 7.000
Special resources
- The history of Erste Bank and the Sparkassen
- The international history of savings banks
- Past balance sheets / company reports since 1819
- Legal history library
- General topics: money, finance, banks
Corporate Archives Library
Location: Building section A, 1st floor / A1.110.1 (above the George café)
Opening hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 10.00 - 14.00 hours
The library contains in the main valuable historical books (unique copies).
The Corporate Archives library holds around 3,000 books, bound magazines and publications on:
ERSTE Foundation Library
You can also find information resources on topics such as the financial economy, financial literacy, current developments in social banking, social entrepreneurship, money and alternative currencies like Bitcoin, on monetary policy, the financial crisis, investment strategies, globalisation, equitable distribution and sustainability in the ERSTE Foundation Library.
The ERSTE Foundation Library collection on financial topics can be found in the Financial Life Park, and also covers books promoting financial literacy for children and young people including comics like “Der Dax der Ducks” [Donald-Duck and friends’ take on finance]. The books can be accessed during FLiP opening hours - and borrowed, with a library card, which can be issued at ERSTE Foundation’s Offices.
Online catalogue and user account
Opening hours:
Monday - Thursday: 09.00 - 17.00 hours
Friday: 09.00 - 14.00 hours
Art in Architecture
“There is no law stating that the walls of corporate headquarters have to be adorned with art. We only display art where we believe it has relevance and can be an inspiration for all Erste Campus users and visitors.”
This statement from the Erste Campus “Mood Book” which accompanied the architectural competition has been taken up by the two curators Kathrin Rhomberg and Pierre Bal-Blanc, who in close consultation with the building owner and the architects Henke Schreieck have invited ten internationally renowned artists from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe to make project proposals. The criteria for the Art in Architecture Project required the artists not only to take into account the context of the geopolitical area in which Erste Group operates, but also to make reference in the projects to the character and location of the Erste Campus building on the former site of the Südbahnhof railway station.
You will find a summary about Art in Architecture in Erste Campus in our booklet for download:
Artworks
Roman Ondak ‚SK Parking‘, 2021
Olga Chernysheva, 'Protected by', 2015
Marcus Geiger, 'Project 2 for Erste Campus', 2014-2016
Tomislav Gotovac, 'Watch on the Rhine', 2015
Sanja Iveković, 'The Invisible Women of Erste Campus', 2016
Edward Krasiński, 'Retrospective', 1984
Roman Ondak, '3015', 2015
Florian Pumhösl, 'Design for a Curtain', 2015
Ashley Hans Scheirl, 'Libidinal Economy’s Special Effects', 2016
Slaven Tolj, 'From Ten to Zero', 2015
Franz Erhard Walther, Thirteen Action Shapes', 2015
Clemens von Wedemeyer, 'Esiod 2015', 2016
Lois Weinberger, 'Laubreise', 2016
Works of Reference
Contact
Hephzibah Druml
Kontakt. The Art Collection of Erste Group and ERSTE Foundation
Keep It Short – Short Film Competition at Erste Campus
The Erste Group organized its first-ever short film competition together with VIS Vienna Shorts Festival.
The competition invited international filmmakers to address the many facets and diversity of the Erste Campus, the headquarters of Erste Group.
The film projects dealt with the architecture and the surroundings of the historical location, the site of the former Südbahnhof train station, in an artistic and innovative way. At the same time, the filmmakers looked at the Erste Campus as an open space for encounters and communication, thus also addressing the new working environment which its offices provide. A total of five short films were produced
An independent jury conferred first place to Stefan-Manuel Eggenweber and Stephan Langer for their film “Ingwer gegen alles” (“Ginger against everything”)
Quotes from the jury
“With its unconventional approach, the film project by Stefan-Manuel Eggenweber and Stephan Langer managed to convince the jury. The film is irritating, amusing and inspiring; it goes against the usual narratives and does so simply by using two cameras, two shoes and quite a lot of ginger”.
Jury
Claudia Larcher, filmmaker
Johann Lurf, filmmaker
Lilli Hollein, Director, Vienna Design Week