Double celebration: FIABCI gold and bronze for landmark projects
Even though the festive gala unfortunately had to be canceled, the joy remained unbroken: two landmark projects were honored at the FIABCI Prix d'Excellence awards ceremony.
In addition to bronze for the Guter Freund neighborhood in the residential category, the Landmarken team was particularly delighted to receive gold for Bochum's O-WERK in the commercial category.
"Bochum deserves it," said Landmarken CEO Norbert Hermanns, who also owns the O-Werk with his family, in an initial reaction. "With the O-Werk, we have really managed to move from the industrial to the digital age. We are delighted that such a great project has been recognized as such." Board member Anke Tsitouras thanked the jury for this recognition: "This is a huge motivation for us for our next projects."
Michael Heming, President of FIABCI Germany and jury member, emphasized the signal effect of the award-winning projects, which goes far beyond their relevance to the real estate industry: "The projects demonstrate the creative, interdisciplinary creativity and willingness to take risks of German project developers, which is necessary to create living spaces that retain their value in the long term." The competition aims not only to recognize the commitment of the award winners, but also to encourage the industry as a whole to live up to its responsibility for our built environment.
We always want to create added value for society
This is a responsibility that the Landmarken team is happy to fulfill, whether it involves structural change in the Ruhr region—with O-WERK, the former headquarters of the closed Opel plant was converted into an innovation campus—or the challenge of creating affordable housing. "We always want to create added value for society," said member of the management board Jochen Hermanns, adding with regard to the bronze project: "Der Gute Freund is a wonderful social housing quarter in Aachen, the development of which we would like to repeat often at other locations."
This year's winners were selected by a newly formed 13-member jury of experts. Its chairman, Andreas Ibel, president of the BFW Federal Association of Independent Real Estate and Housing Companies, congratulated the winners and recalled the sometimes adverse conditions under which project developments have to be planned and built today: "Everyday life in project development is characterized not only by entrepreneurial risks, but also by a flood of regulations, scarce and expensive building land, and rising construction costs. Being able to plan and build in an economical, sustainable, innovative, and at the same time architecturally sophisticated manner is increasingly becoming like squaring the circle. The award winners impressively demonstrate that outstanding real estate developments can still be realized. The award-winning projects not only provide a home for their residents and users, but also enrich their neighborhood environment."
