The Managing Directors of Volkswagen Immobilien Meno Requardt and Hardy Brennecke, the Deputy Chairman of the KOVO trade union Josef Zmrhal, Skoda Auto Board Member for Procurement Karsten Schnake, Skoda Auto Board Member Michael Oeljeklaus and the Head of Real Estate and Travel Management at Skoda Auto Radka Čihulková laid the foundation stone for the Laurin & Klement campus. The new Skoda Auto headquarters is being built opposite the previous offices in Mladá Boleslav and is expected to be occupied in 2023. The building complex sets standards in terms of sustainability.
Karsten Schnake, Skoda Auto Board Member for Procurement, emphasizes: "With our new company headquarters, we are committed to the Mladá Boleslav location and our company's founders. In the future, the Laurin & Klement campus premises will offer optimal necessities for interdisciplinary partnership and the generation of new creative Simply Clever ideas as an element of our brand. Furthermore, when constructing the new building, we are consistently orienting ourselves towards ambitious, self-imposed sustainability requirements: Among other things, a photovoltaic system with 330 panels and a peak output of 100 kW will supply additional electricity."
Meno Requardt, Managing Director of Volkswagen Immobilien, adds: "We are pleased to enable the future of work for the Skodians by providing these jobs. The attractive office space is based on modern New Work concepts and offers individual solutions for different requirements for an optimal working environment. Furthermore, the state-of-the-art building technology and all other planning disciplines are consistently implemented according to the BIM (Building Information Modeling) planning method and taking sustainability aspects into account. For example, sustainable Cobiax hollow core slabs are installed to reduce the CO2 footprint through the reduced concrete mass intelligently."
The future headquarters of the Czech automobile manufacturer will cover a total area of 44,000 square meters. Up to 1,700 employees can be accommodated in four building parts on five floors. Their previous office workplaces will be combined from eleven company-owned and other rented areas in the new building in Mladá Boleslav. By eliminating the corresponding rents, the company achieves operational savings. In addition to office space, the new complex will also house a 2,100 square meter company restaurant for 400 visitors and a conference area. An underground car park also offers space for more than 300 vehicles.
By switching to biomass, Skoda Auto will ensure the CO2-neutral energy supply of its new company headquarters by 2025. In addition, the photovoltaic system on the roof of the building operated by the energy company CEZ ensures sustainably generated electricity, and numerous structural measures and technical innovations significantly reduce electricity consumption. LED technology and intelligent light sensors alone facilitate the energy required by half compared to fluorescent tubes. Highly efficient ventilation systems pre-cool the offices at night, while at the same time, the air conditioning systems achieve a recuperation coefficient of 80 percent through energy recovery. Roller shutters effectively protect against solar radiation and thus reduce the cooling load by 30 percent.
Rainwater is collected in a central collection point and treated using a filter system with 776 cubic meters. The water can then be used to irrigate the 4,070 square meter green areas. These offer a natural habitat for numerous insect and animal species on the almost 13,400 square meter property.
The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) plans to award a gold certificate for the new building. The certification system has established itself as a global benchmark for clearly defined standards in sustainable construction and thus ensures international measurability and comparability.
