开放城市空间：安联集团斯图加特总部园区

The new headquarters park for Allianz in Stuttgart will create a sustainable, user-friendly, and modern office space for 4,500 employees on a 170,000-sqm site, while contributing to the urban regeneration of the local station area which is becoming an intermodal transportation hub. Starting from the protection of an old oak tree in the site, Gerber Architekten creates an open layout of "one oak plaza surrounded by a tower and five podiums", showcasing the openness as Allianz's identity, connecting the emerging industrial park on the north side with the sports facilities and green spaces on the south side, and achieving the integration of different business in the region.

Allianz, one of the world's leading insurance and asset management companies, is set to build a new headquarters in Vaihingen, Stuttgart. The aim is to provide modern office space for 4,500 employees and contribute to the company's sustainable development.

The headquarters will be located in Synergie Park, east of Vaihingen Station, and stands as one of the key projects in the "SynergieWerkStadt-2025" future plan, proposed by the local government. This urban regeneration initiative strives to create a regional office hub with a high-quality environment that integrates with other functional entities in the park. It aims to foster collaboration between government, industry, academia, research, application, and finance sectors, thereby stimulating regional vitality around the railway station.

So, from the perspective of urban planning, Gerber Architekten is dedicated to creating an office complex that is both highly open and highly connected.

For Allianz, this project is intended to create a high-quality daily environment for all employees, offer a comfortable and pleasant experience for visitors, and express the company's identity through its planning and architectural forms.

Simultaneously, for the city, the design aims to establish an inclusive and cohesive urban space by creating public areas and connecting routes. This approach will enable the entire park to establish a friendly and mutually beneficial connection with the railway station, other corporate headquarters, R&D institutions on the north side, and the urban green space and sports facilities on the south side.

Derived from the urban and natural context of the site, the design embodies Allianz's "open" identity through a flexible and open arrangement of spaces.

Given its proximity to the Vaihingen railway station, as well as the various institutions to the north and the sports facilities and urban green space to the south, the design initially establishes the park as an urban space with public and connecting functions from a planning standpoint. This aims to create an inviting public space that encourages people to enter and move through, fostering interaction between the different urban spaces in the north and south.

Considering the urban environment, industrial presence, and transportation routes in the northern surroundings, the design opens the park towards the north, reflecting Allianz's "open" identity, while also addressing the transportation needs of most employees commuting to the headquarters via public transportation.

Considering the presence of a century-old oak tree at the heart of the site's northern area, the design reimagines the entrance space as a plaza focused on the oak tree. This approach aims to protect the old tree while creating a link between the headquarters park and the urban space.

These plazas and courtyards unveil various natural landscapes to visitors in a layered manner, while also encouraging them to further explore towards the south and enter the urban green space and sports facilities. This fosters a healthy office model of "work+exercise."

To establish harmony with the urban environment, a "one high-rise + four multi-story" building layout has been designed. This layout maintains the park's "open" theme, adopting a rounded architectural form to engage with surrounding buildings.

The curved architecture not only adds dynamic beauty but also creates a fluid public space between the buildings. This design fosters a warm and interconnected environment, offering a comfortable and diverse workspace for employees and an inviting urban space for visitors and citizens.

The high-rise tower is designed to complement the existing high-rise buildings in the area, contributing to a harmonious city skyline and serving as a symbol of the headquarters park, emphasizing its urban significance. Additionally, other multi-story buildings are employed to embody the park's theme of "integration."

The interconnected office buildings feature a circular layout, along with a central internal courtyard, providing employees with a natural view and facilitating efficient spatial circulation. Inside the office buildings, the design creates diverse spaces, including single-person offices, open offices, independent seminar rooms, decentralized offices, project spaces, meeting rooms, rest and communication areas, offering employees a range of office environment choices. Furthermore, the design accommodates the current mixed office mode of "traditional office+remote work," incorporating a series of flexible and organized composite functional spaces to maximize space utilization.

The multi-story and high-rise office buildings are designed to function both independently and as interconnected entities. Using the atrium on the first floor of the tower as the hub, the design provides a smooth flow for the entire headquarters park, fostering seamless communication and interaction.

The first floor and underground level form a main road from east to west, efficiently connecting different buildings, and floors are connected through vertical transportation. Additionally, aerial bridges tie up different functional zones, promoting communication and interaction among employees and facilitating new forms of cooperation for enterprises.

All office buildings encircle the Oak Plaza at the center of the site, underscoring the site's natural essence and the significance of public space. Courtyards on different floors within each office building create a unique landscaped space, which allows direct sunlight to reach the basement, enhancing the comfort of the underground space.

Each courtyard features a locally planted soapberry tree (Gleditschia), providing greenery, shade, and fragrant blooms in spring. The lush vegetation transforms the subterranean areas into functional outdoor spaces, serving as rest or dining areas where people can relax, socialize, and enjoy nature.

Moreover, the design offers sun decks between the building, seats in Oak Plaza, and ground-level skylights in the underground sports field, continually fostering a comfortable environment with natural lighting and ventilation. These spatial elements are thoughtfully integrated in a restrained manner, allowing the distinctiveness of different landscapes to be appropriately appreciated, while seamlessly blending the series of spaces inbetween.

As for sustainability, the design  comprehensively considers the entire life cycle of the headquarters, including energy-saving building standards, indoor environmental regulation, and the interaction between energy production, as well as the best balance of optimizing construction investment and reducing operating costs.

The sustainable strategies include 1) green transition zone; 2) Green roof; 3) Runoff management and rainwater reuse; 4) Passive design and active energy-saving with solar system; 5) Optimized ventilation system; 6) Indoor climate control system.