ITK Engineering opens company headquarters in Rülzheim

From Culture to Architecture

After only 12 months of construction, on Friday the 11th of October, 2013, ITK Engineering held a ceremony to mark the opening of its new headquartersin Rülzheim. Around 200 guests from politics, business and science, including Eveline Lemke, Minister of Economic Affairs, Climate Protection, Energy and Regional Planning and Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate, were received by the founder and CEO Michael Englert.

The architectural concept, such as color and features,is based on the company’s values. The corporate culture is immediately noticeable upon entering the building. The completely glazed facade creates an open air spacewith a clear view of the sky. The overall open design offers spectacular views which employees and customers can both enjoy. One central aspect of ITK’s philosophy, Teamwork, is represented throughout the new building. “Creative corners”, an on-site cafeteria, several coffee stations, and specialty furniture offer a place for creative exchange and teamwork.

The so-called “second home”, a unique area in the building with warm colors and lots of wooden furniture, which creates a special atmosphere that symbolizes the concept of Partnership that ITK emphasizes. Another value, Innovative Solutions, is reflected through construction with a focus on energy efficiency. Only high-quality heat-resistant glass was installed. The building is also connected to the local heat supply grid and has an automatically-controlled ventilation system. On the roof, is a solar-powered 80 KWp system that provides the energy needed by the air-conditioning unit chiller. To further optimize the energy efficiency and control of the heating and cooling demand, a complete building automation and control system was installed. Insgesamt investierte ITK Engineering über acht 8 Millionen Euro für den Neubau. Eine Investition, die sich lohnen soll. „Wir planen, auch weiterhin zu expandieren. Das Gebäude bietet derzeit Platz für rund 250 Mitarbeiter. Gleichzeitig bietet das Gelände Kapazitäten für das weitere geplante Wachstum“, so Englert.

„Die ITK gehört zu den führenden Entwicklern von Sicherheitssoftware in Deutschland. Waschmaschinen, Pkw, Maschinen und Flugzeuge funktionieren dank der Software von ITK in den Steuerungscomputern. Hoch qualifizierte und motivierte Softwarespezialisten sind das wichtigste Betriebskapital. Deshalb freue ich mich, dass mit dem hochmodernen Firmengebäude eine wichtige Investition auch in die Mitarbeiterzufriedenheit getätigt wurde, eine wichtige Voraussetzung dafür, dass weiterhin Spitzensoftware von ITK entwickelt werden kann“, so Ministerin Eveline Lemke.

A piece of art created by the staff, as part of a “Team Painting” exercise with artist Christian Bendull, will be put on display in the new building. Michael Englert unveiled this painting, together with other speakers, during the building’s dedication ceremony. “We want to inspire and set high technological and personal standards.” That`s the key message of the painting and visualizes the core ideology of the company. “In the last couple of months, we have not only been intensively engaged with the construction of the new building, but with the future vision and strategy of ITK, as well as, what we want ITK Engineering to stand for in the year 2030. For us it is crystal clear, we want to create something new, but at the same time, we want to stay true to our fundamental values,” said Englert. To facilitate this, an event with all the managerial staff was held. Along with different workshops, the staff was asked to transfer their future vision of ITK into a painting. The individual paintings were combined to form one large singular piece of art that will hang, from opening day, in the new building and will serve as a constant reminder to everyone of ITK’s vision.