EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

In 2011, the ECB occupied three separate premises in Frankfurt city centre. The goal was to build a new home for the bank in Frankfurt's Ostend, on the site – still to be converted – containing the old wholesale market hall. At the end of 2014, the ECB moved safely and professionally into its new group of buildings.

185,000 m² GFA were there to be occupied: 2,900 workspaces, 3,800 linear metres of archive and 2,800 linear metres of library, 1,500 m² of social and sports facilities, as well as conference and catering areas for 1,200 people. It all presented huge challenges for planning and relocation logistics.

A bespoke furniture concept was designed for the European Central Bank (ECB), which supports the architectural design concept of the new ECB building with transparency and openness. Three different design lines – Classic Line, Sportive Line and Green Line – provide the underlying tonality within the building.

The furnishing was contracted on the basis of a Europe-wide invitation to tender, using a multi-step open procedure that included samples in order to take quality assurance into account. Thanks to the manufacturer-related allocation of 13 lots, a very cost-effective result was achieved for the ECB.

The move itself took place over four weekends. To plan the relocation, inventories were first conducted in the source properties and then relocation concepts were developed. The entire management of the process, including the tendering and subsequent contracting of haulage services with a disposal and recycling concept, was coordinated and monitored. Particular attention was paid to security considerations where the transport of, for example, banknotes or anything related to the management board, HR or legal departments was concerned.