Promotion for ottensenOPEN emphasizes its flexible surface usage and individually shaped offices. What makes this possible?
Robert Kirsch: Each floor of the six-story new building is divided into seven-meter sections. Raised flooring is used throughout and the workstations are supplied via floor boxes. This lets us move separation walls wherever the tenant wants them.
Floor boxes often have the disadvantage, they do not fit right.
Kirsch: True. That is why floor boxes do not have a good reputation, and many architects have kept a distance from them. However, right now this trend is reversing. Renters come to us and specifically ask for them of their own accord.
How do you explain this?
Kirsch: As part of a raised floor, today we can move the floor boxes at any time, to bring the connection technology out of the floor at just the right spot. Offices should not only be practical, but attractive. Hardly anyone still wants the heavy window ducts with sockets and network or telephone connections that characterized old public authority buildings. Floor boxes are the alternative.
Robert Kirsch, Electrotechnology Project Manager at Altmann & Böhning
Where does this sudden change come from?
Kirsch: Thanks to WAGO's WINSTA® technology, connecting the floor boxes we use in ottensenOPEN is a simple task. If a new tenant comes in and wants a different room distribution, we just move the floor box: Take it out, move it to another location, reinstall it – done. It is not even necessary to have an electrician for this job, because the connections are simply plugged together. And if the existing wiring is not long enough, we just plug in a longer one where needed. In Hamburg, this went so far that we even specified the connector colors in advance. Black stands for workstation outlets – that is, the work electrical circuit – and white is the switchable outlets for the floor lamps. This eliminates mismating.
Do these gains come at the expense of the project leader's profits? As far as material costs are concerned, laying NYM cable is clearly less expensive.
Kirsch: Interestingly enough, it is not the material expenses that lead installation costs, but the mounting time. We have managed to fully exploit the benefits of floor boxes regarding multi-functionality, without an electrician having to crouch on the floor and wire the outlets by hand for hours on end. This has saved us a great deal of time. Yet another edge for our installers was that we could mount the floor boxes right after the floor fitters, because then the connection only had to be plugged in. We only had to go to the installation site once and could directly complete the partial services. Previously, the mounting boxes were already wired in much earlier stages of the project, which also meant effort in protecting your own work.
Robert Kirsch, Electrotechnology Project Manager at Altmann & Böhning
How significant are these time savings?
Kirsch: We worked out the calculations with WAGO ahead of time and then decided on WINSTA®. By the time we had finished the third rental space in ottensenOPEN, we could confirm: This pays off. Ultimately, we have superior functionality and evident time savings at the same price.
Thank you for the conversation.
Interview: WAGO
WINSTA® in Practice
Easy cable connection when installing the mounting boxes saves time. Defective sockets can be easily replaced, minimizing downtimes during operation.
