The Omniturm tower cuts a striking figure in the Frankfurt skyline: 190 meters tall and hip-swing architecture in the middle. A true eye-catcher. But there is more to it than meets the eye.
“We wanted to set new standards – bringing office, residential, and public spaces together under one roof, while deploying state-of-the-art technology for the operation and control of the building,” says Bodo Jüngling, Head of Design & Construction Germany at Tishman Speyer, a leading real estate owner, operator, developer and fund manager.
Mission accomplished for this mixed-usage concept that hosts office and residential space, as well as restaurants. Moreover, the building is Germany’s first skyscraper to connect people via a digital network: the pioneering Schindler PORT technology, including Schindler MyPORT for touchless operation, provides seamless mobility for the 2200 people who either visit, live, or work here.
Visitors of the Omniturm can experience this connectivity already when entering the building’s parking garage: using number plate recognition, Schindler technology automatically allows in pre-registered vehicles without drivers having to swipe an access card. Once parked, the elevators await guests in order to whisk them to their destination.
One level up, office workers, tenants, residents, and visitors alike can use their smartphone, a chipcard, or a temporary access code to identify themselves at the building’s entrance. This prompts Schindler myPORT to determine which of the building’s eight elevators is the closest, before dispatching it to the main lobby. Schindler myPORT then directs users to the designated elevator, which swiftly transports them to their destination.
“The user experience is almost the same as with a tablet,” says Bodo Jüngling. “You swipe something and then everything works automatically.”
Behind this seamless user experience lies a complex IT infrastructure, explains Sebastian Lurg, Head of the Schindler Transit Management Competence Center. “We installed an IT landscape that covers every angle of the building, and then connected all 147 apartments,” he says. “This makes Schindler myPORT an integral part of the digital building.”
Digitalized buildings do not only bring additional convenience day in, day out – they also proved a boon when the pandemic-19 hit. Bettina Jäger, responsible for Customer Service for Major Projects at Schindler Germany, witnessed it first-hand. “With Schindler myPORT, we could dispatch elevators in a way that allowed us to limit the number of people per ride. As a result, we had no problem implementing the legal requirements governing social distancing.”
Commerz Real AG, a German real estate investment firm, was quick to see the potential of Omniturm. It acquired the tower from Tishman Speyer even before the building was completed. If Omniturm’s elegant “hip swing” played a part in its decision to acquire the property, it was the Schindler PORT technology that sealed the deal. “The system has everything that we would want from a property in our role as the first digital asset manager,” says Henning Koch, member of the Management Board of Commerz Real AG.
That the tower found a new owner so rapidly came as no surprise to project developer Bodo Jüngling from Tishman Speyer: “Omniturm is really something special,” he says. “You can see this not only from the design and the attention to detail. You also feel it when you live and work in the building.”