The ideal workplace for every task: With this aim in mind, Villeroy&Boch has opened its new office and conference centre, Factory N°09, in Mettlach and completed an important element of its “Mettlach 2.0” site development project.
Modern Working Environment
Our employees are our most valuable asset. We want to offer them ideal working conditions and attract talented people from all over the world to Mettlach. I have no doubt that Fabrik N°09 represents an important step towards achieving this aim.
It is common knowledge that around 85 percent of all innovations result from spontaneous communication rather than a planned exchange of ideas. This is why the creation of networking spaces was a high priority. With temporary workstations, tea and coffee stations and a lounge area, the networking spaces are suited for quick work between two meetings, as well as providing an informal place to encounter colleagues and spontaneously exchange ideas over a coffee. They have been installed centrally in areas with plenty of footfall, such as by the staircase in the upper floors of Factory N°09, and they all come fitted with power sockets and USB ports for charging laptops and other devices.
No two bathrooms in the building are the same. There are a total of seven bathrooms – all of them fitted exclusively with Villeroy & Boch products and designed using themes developed specially for Factory N°09, with matching music: from energy boost rooms with strong colours or a metallic look through to the zen garden and an Amazonia or jungle bathroom.
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Planning Team of Factory N°09:
Architect: Bochem.Schmidt Architekten, Merzig
Housing Technology: PAV Ingenieure, Merzig
Statics: Ingenieur Büro Stefan Müller, Saarlouis
Interior Architect: Triad, Berlin
Fire Prevention: KMW Ingenieurgesellschaft, Saarbrücken
Office Concept: IF5, Hannover
Acoustics: Audiotechnik Loch, St. Wendel
Decoration: Andrea Luft Design, Munich
The centrepiece of the ground floor and the mezzanine level at Factory N°09 is the “marketplace”. This area, which extends around the central staircase on the ground floor, can be used by all Villeroy & Boch employees.
On the ground floor and the mezzanine level of the market place, they can relax and do work between meetings or participate in one of the employee events that will be held there in future. The marketplace features an “arena” with two levels of seating and a writeable wall, as well as wood-edged meeting alcoves, telephone booths, and four large conference rooms.
Factory N°09 aims to promote flexible, project-based cooperation by eliminating the concept of designated desks. The desks are electrically height-adjustable to allow them to be used while standing. The building also offers excellent acoustics: Small separating walls between the desks, the carpeted floor, sound-insulated ceilings and felt curtains around the open project areas all help to regulate the sound level.
For more intensive calls and conversations, Factory N°09 offers telephone booths and Skype rooms with large monitors and wide-angle cameras for videoconferencing. Conference and project rooms with writeable walls and big flat-screen monitors have been installed for meetings and creative teamwork. And employees can make use of silent rooms when they need to write, do design work or create a presentation in peace.
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Creativity is a part of Villeroy & Boch just like the Old Abbey is a part of Mettlach. The company-owned car park on its premises in Mettlach is an impressive example of what creativity can achieve. A group of artists called “Quintessenz” recently redesigned the building in an “Urban Art”-Style. The result is as bold as it is inspiring.
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