CEWE is growing: the foundation stone is laid for the new administration building
"We have steadily grown in recent years with our photographic products and have been able to employ an additional 200 people in Oldenburg. We are taking this momentum into account with the construction of a modern and energy-efficient building," according to Dr. Rolf Hollander. The CEO of CEWE welcomed the many guests invited to the celebratory laying of the foundation stone of the new administration building. Oldenburg's Mayor Jürgen Krogmann stressed the importance of this building for the town: "CEWE is one of Oldenburg's largest and most successful companies. Its growth over recent years has been impressive. CEWE is now positioning itself for the future with the construction of this new administration building. These measures are testament to its confidence in its own strength – and to its confidence in this site. I am very pleased about this."
With professional help, the Mayor, architect Alexis Angelis, Dr. Rolf Hollander and four CEWE employees – Irina Henning, Nicole Stephan, Nada Lassauer and Thomas Schmidt – buried a "time capsule" in the foundation stone. The copper container was filled, as is traditional, with documents typical for this era that are to be preserved for posterity, including a CEWE PHOTOBOOK, negative film, memory stick, lucky 'cent' and a current edition of the Nordwest Zeitung newspaper.
Modern and pleasant working environment
Some 165 members of staff will relocate to work in the new premises, as the existing office space has become too small for the employees. Some of them moved some time ago to an office floor in the shopping centre opposite and additional temporary workplaces were also set up in a portacabin on the company's grounds.
Apart from more space, the employees can also look forward to a modern and pleasant working environment – with the glazed façades creating transparency and openness. "The new building offers CEWE the space that an innovation-centred company needs today to attract the best minds and good ideas on the global marketplace," explains architect Alexis Angelis, summarising the spatial concept in words. The inside of the building has been designed as an open space, with no individual offices and no partition walls. The new building is not just synonymous with responsibility and sustainability, but also creates a modern working environment to encourage the process-orientated, communicative and economic work of CEWE, and to make CEWE even more attractive as an employer to young people in Oldenburg.
Energy-efficient building concept
A new 3,300 square metre three-storey building designed by architects Angelis & Partners will be built alongside the existing administration building. Plenty of space for new ideas – the new office wing also presents the innovative strength of Europe's leading photographic service provider and online printing partner to the outside world. CEWE has committed itself to the principles of sustainability and is setting new benchmarks with the new building: with a photovoltaic and geothermal system, the building is exemplary in terms of energy saving and is CO2 neutral in terms of its air conditioning. "We take our responsibility towards the environment seriously, and resource conservation and energy efficiency play a key role not just in production. This energy-efficient extension is a further step in this direction," according to Dr. Hollander.