Founded in Berlin in 1870 by Georg Siemens and Ludwig Bamberger as a specialist bank for foreign trade, Deutsche Bank, with its approximately 98.000 employees worldwide and assets of €2.012 trillion, is one of the largest financial institutions globally. In the years between 2002-2006, following up a large number of strategic acquisitions including Deutsche Postbank and growth in the market, DB required renovations to its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main and revisions to its global real estate asset strategy.
In 2007, AECOM was commissioned to carry out a global investigation of their offices to understand and define the emerging requirements of the bank’s workplace and real estate portfolio. The results of the research provided the basis for the development of the new Deutsche Bank Workplace Strategy Guidelines, which were applied in the renovation of the Deutsche Bank twin towers in Frankfurt.
The building was designed with a large main entrance and lobby accessible to the public, also including a number of spaces for exhibition, and a branded area. The renovation aimed to communicate both to the market and internally the change in culture of the bank and increased awareness of environmental issues.
The standardised layout principles on 57 regular floors helped to drastically reduce churn cost and optimise the building life cycle. Conference rooms in different sizes were designed to respond to HQ demand for support spaces, and a broadcasting studio was also installed on the top floor.
AECOM was further appointed to develop and deliver a change management programme to support the transition into the new Deutsche Bank workplace for approximately 2850 staff that would be working in the renovated headquarters.
Through this project and the implementation of the new workplace concept, Deutsche Bank finally achieved LEED Platinum certification and DGNB Gold.
Following the success of this operation, in 2011 Deutsche Bank appointed AECOM as the workplace briefing partner in Central & Eastern Europe and the Americas.
We consider ourselves as the bank’s trusted advisor on their continuous journey of innovation in the workplace.