Erste Bank : 08.02.2016 - Welcome to Erste’s new way of doing banking: Erste Group moves to Erste Campus

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.

'We asked ourselves: what is the best environment we can create for our people to freely interact, team up across business areas and spark new ideas together? We have even involved our staff actively in the design process. So we are happy that the Campus, with its wall-less open plan layout and inviting meeting spaces is a place where staff, customers and everyone who wishes to shape the future with us can come together,' explained Treichl.

Currently, Erste Group is distributed across more than 20 different locations in Vienna. By mid-2016, all the employees will have moved to the new premises in four waves. During construction there were no delays and no overdrawing of the budget. Construction costs were approximately EUR 300 million and stayed below the target. The Campus will reduce overhead costs by approximately 20%. Erste Group Immorent AG, the Erste Group specialist for real estate and infrastructure financing, served as project developer and building contractor. During construction, orders were contracted out to approximately 1000 companies.

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. The selection of the location has a clear strategic element for Andreas Treichl: 'As a leading bank in Central and Eastern Europe, we are now also oriented geographically towards these countries with our new headquarters. At the same time, we remain true to our roots as a traditional Austrian savings bank.'