Construction time again
High-tech meets high-touch
Groundhog day and here's another impressive (construction) story.
It's shortly after 7 in the morning. The sun is rising over the horizon and casting a warm light on the two large yellow cranes that reach high into the sky. With determination to create something special, formwork panels, ceiling supports, and iron bars glide almost silently over the busy hustle and bustle on the building site. Like the rhythm of a timeless Depeche Mode song, piles are being driven into the ground, and the uniform vibrations tell us: These are the foundations of something new. Building history is being written here again.
Fill's success story is closely tied to the structural development on the premises of the company headquarters in Gurten. Since the beginning of the 1970s, modern office buildings and production halls have been erected and generously sized parking areas and park-like grounds created at ever shorter intervals.
In the early years, company founder Josef Fill managed the construction projects himself. Whenever he fetched his gumboots from the wardrobe, everyone knew: It's construction time again! Very familiar with the position of all the culverts and underground cables, he paid particular attention to the professional and punctual execution of building work. Company boss, Marianne Fill, was responsible for the Feng-Shui-compliant color scheme, well-designed workplaces, and plenty of greenery in outdoor and indoor areas.
Even though a large team of architects and civil engineers is responsible for managing the construction projects professionally today, releasing the design and selecting the materials and colors are still a matter for the proprietors – now in their second generation.
Some of the premises have changed their purpose repeatedly over time. The chief executives' offices, where once groundbreaking decisions were made and convivial Christmas parties concluded, were transformed into the first apprentice workshop. And today, this location "steeped in history" is where children and young people enjoy themselves in our Planet Filli Future.
As different as the individual construction phases were, the aim was always to combine timeless design with a high utilization level of the premises. And this was achieved in most cases. In over 50 years of building history, many unique projects have been completed, including the Future Dome, Future Zone, Holodeck, and Future Tube. Each construction phase served as inspiration for further developments, which is why the frequently made assertion "We won't be building any more for a while" has never really been believed by anyone.
"We won't be building any more for a while."
Member of the Landesrat (retired) Kommerzialrat Josef Fill,
Founder of Fill Gesellschaft m.b.H.
The plans for the next major investment, the Fill Powercube (a 6-story building with logistics, parking, office, and fitness areas in an active design), have already been approved. Now it's only a matter of time before it's "construction time again".
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