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What if processes shape the organization of buildings?
What if the knowledge of everyone involved was visible from the start?
Client workshop event, card sorting exersice
What if buildings were net contributors to the local ecosystems?
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Our world is becoming increasingly complex. The rapid acceleration of change is challenging organizations and institutions. Following the profound impact of the pandemic, the rise of AI, or the climate crisis, the role of space and its responsibilities need to be redefined. We help you frame these challenges and translate them into resilient solutions.

Hi! We are HENN Programming®

We are a team of strategists, architecs and visionaries. We work on a strategic level outside of the bounderies of a typical building process, drawing a clear separation between the problem and the solution.

Pre-design and post-occupancy Programming lay at the boundaries of a standard building processPre-design and post-occupancy Programming lay at the boundaries of a standard building process

Our goal is to formulate the understanding of the task from the beginning in a complexity that corresponds to that of the future solution. This, in turn, avoids expensive and time-consuming changes in the solution phase, as they are already clarified at the problem level.

Maximising project knowledge from the start

As part of the international architecture firm HENN, we are able to challenge the status quo and turn bold ideas into a built reality.

Our Method

HENN Programming® has been the method for capturing complex tasks for over 30 years.  We do this by systematically analyzing users and processes, visualizing the findings and condensing and interpreting them to develop the objectives and goals for a project. It embodies a unique mindset and approach that focuses on the holistic context of the project, rendering it visible and tangible.

Our approach centers on intristic user needs. We gain insights through workshops, interviews and detailed observation. Real-time visualisation of the insights enables immediate visibility and feedback.

Qulitative and quantitative knowledge gathered in this way is further structured and analysed. A step back is taken to map out and discover relationships, establishing a clear picture of the project context.

Our resulting concepts strike a balance between abstraction and intention, facilitating accessible interpretation for the subsequent design stages.

We have been using the HENN Programming® method to record complex tasks for over 30 years. We do this by systematically analyzing tasks, visualizing them in iterative coordination, and condensing and interpreting the essential questions.

Our approach centers on intristic user needs. We gain insights through workshops, interviews and detailed observation. Real-time visualisation of  the insights enables immediate visibility and corrections.

Qulitative and quantitative knowledge so gathered is further structured and analysed. A step back is taken to map out and discover relationships, establishing a clear picture of the project context.

Our resulting concepts strike a balance between abstraction and intention, facilitating accessible interpretation for the design process.

A three-step process professionalizes the approach by exploring the context, analyzing the findings, and translating it into a holistic concept.

Exploration

We take deep dive into the users world to truly understand their unique problem.

Analysis

Through condensation and interpretation, we make the invisible visible and challenge the status quo.

Conception

In an iterative process we develop bespoke solutions.

Case Studies

Merck Sustainability Guidelines
How can we work towards decarbonization within extensive real-estate assets? How can we internally communicate our sustainability goals in a way that is comprehensive and can be understood throughout the entire real-estate team and beyond?
Sustainability Chapters for Merck Architecture Guidelines - book mock upMerck Sustianabilty Guidelines Book Mock Up

The Energy and Material Guidelines for Merck Group translate overarching corporate strategy ideas into design principles for Merck sites, buildings and interiors across the world. It is a communication tool that provides concrete recommendations, and is simultaneusly abstarct enough to be future-proof.

Volkswagen Research & Development Campus
Can space be a resource to resolve the complexity of business processes? Together with Volkswagen's R&D teams, we have developed a new building typology to explore new and faster development processes for electric vehicles.
Volkswagen Research and Development Campus Interior view: atrium, offices, wooden roof structureVolkswagen Research and Development Campus interior view - atrium, offices, wooden roof structure

In the future, developing cars will no longer be design alone, but above all communication, awareness of parallel development processes and a smooth fusion of software development and hardware design. This should significantly accelerate the product development process and the time to market. "If the car is increasingly becoming an electrically driven software product, its development must also change in all dimensions," said Thomas Ulbricht, member of the board of management responsible for development, at a press conference.

Dachser Workplace Strategy
The logistics provider has transformed itself from a family business into an organization run by non-family members. Alongside that change, we have developed a workplace strategy, that reflects a new corporate culture and shifts from a silo mentality to an awareness of space, people, and innovation.
Conceptual sketch showing interior space of the collaborative zoneConceptual sketch showing interior space of the collaborative zone

How do we want to work in the future? Together with the board of directors and a team of user representatives we aimed to develop an answer, that gives tribute to a tightening talent market, a shift in demographics, an increased complexity of organisational processes and a newley found HQ identity.

Related Projects

Cultural Center Gasteig

Gasteig is one of the largest cultural centers in Europe, housing six distinct cultural institutions. To create a building that could support each institution's growth equally, we initiated the development of a comprehensive user requirement program. Through a series of in-depth workshops, our team formulated a concept that has provided steadfast guidance throughout the subsequent stages of the entire project. Although the renovation is currently on hold, the institutions remain committed to the concept we collaboratively developed.

ZAlando warehouse future

What if we completely rethought warehouses to find ways to boost their environmental performance, create attractive workplaces and stay ahead of future legislation? Together with Zalando we developed a modular warehouse prototype that reduces embodied carbon by 45%, implements circular construction methods and contributes to local ecosystems. In addition to that, the placement of social areas on the rooftop increases employee comfort, while at the same time maintaining effiency and profitability.

HOuse of Communication

The House of Communication for the Serviceplan Group creates a distinctive spatial identity for the world's largest owner-managed agency group for innovative communication, rooted in the company’s ideals of openness and collaboration. Connecting three separate buildings via bridges, the design concept brings together 40 different agencies and 1,700 employees under one roof on the iCampus, a new innovation district near Munich's Ostbahnhof, developed by R&S Immobilienmanagement. HENN devised the headquarters as a small city, a concept known as office urbanism.

Mobility Hub Spandau

Autonomous driving, carsharing, and entirely new forms of mobility are changing the way we move from A to B. How can we design buildings that allow for unknown future changes while simultaneously providing for today's needs? We conceptualized and designed a central mobility hub for a new development near Spandau that thrives to reduce traffic and boast sustainable forms of mobility. The highly adaptable timber structure provides a plattform that houses social functions, such as atteliers and community spaces, as weill as a variety of autonomous and traditional mobility offerings.

Roche Penzberg office Re-design

The Roche office redesign does not compete with the home office. Instead it shifts its focus towards collaboration and community. The new concept proposes team zones, co-focus zones and vertical connection between all floors as a collision space. In this way, a former cubicle office is transformed into a place for digital and analog collaboration and exchange.

BMW Connected Workplace Manual

Effective planning significantly impacts the value of real estate. We've developed a survey for BMW Group that outlines functional and process-oriented requirements for its new and existing real estate projects. It forms a basis for planning- specific solutions aligning with defined objectives and user needs and provides a coherent overview of construction, planning and area standards for each building type, describing best practises within the BMW Group.

Brainergy Hub Jülich

HENN’s design of the Brainergy Hub in Jülich will be the heart of a new knowledge park dedicated to sustainable and renewable energy research. The innovative use of material, form and renewable technologies means the Hub is not only highly energy-efficient, but energy producing, and will function as the brain of the Brainergy masterplan. The distinctive, circular design acts as a lighthouse, symbolizing Germany’s shift towards renewable energy and a green future.

MDC Requirements planning 2030

The HENN Programming Team was actively involved in the planning of structural requirements for the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin. We worked closely with the center's knowledge and opinion leaders to investigate user needs and establish framework parameters. Through a comprehensive analysis, we mathematically assessed the facility management database and requirement plans, allowing us to create a coordinated and evidence-based forecast for the year 2030. In addition to documenting specific development needs and determinations, we also formulated central urban planning concepts for the campus.

Zalando Headquarters

The idea began in 2008 in a shared flat in Berlin. Ten years on, Zalando had grown to become Europe’s leading online fashion platform. Despite a strong and cohesive on-line brand, in reality its workforce was scattered across Berlin. What was needed was a unique, unifying building. One that reflected the spirit of the start-up culture and that would have the ability to remain flexible and serve all of the company’s functions. A building that would, at the same time, leave its mark on the city. HENN gave this vision a form.

Domäne Dornburg re-use

Existing Domäne cluster in Dornburg village near Jena occupies 1/6 of the total area of the village and has been standing empty for many years. We explored its future use and refurbishment scenarios together with the city, heritage authorites, University Jena, IBA Thürinegn project team and local residents. The site has potential of more than 15.000 m² of residential, business, hotel and gastronomy use. The project was looked at on two levels, considering conditions of the site and its adjacent village, as well as on the larger scale, exploring regional developmet opportunities and infrastructure.

Merck Gernsheim Strategic Masterplan

In the context of the urgency of climate change, the location of the Merck Gernsheim chemical production site in one of Germany's largest business and innovation regions, Rhein-Main, makes it an attractive site for the development of green technologies. Working alongside business consultants, we have formulated a phased masterplan guiding the site's redevelopment until 2036. To reflect the new HiTech identity of the site, we have placed particular emphasis on creating high-quality outdoor areas with a positive ecological impact.

Zalando Experience BHQ-Z

Located within the Zalando headquarters campus, the BHZ building is perfectly positioned to showcase Zalando's new hybrid workplace concept. The project developed a set of interior planing guidelines that enable it to operate simultaneusly as a center for talent aquisition and a partner hub. Thus, the resulting programming concept integrates areas for welcoming perspective employees and personal development areas, as well as workplace and a collaboration functions suited to communicating and celebrating company's commitment to business partners big or small.

Hafenplatz: Guiding the Dialogue Procedures

Sustainable neighborhood development occurs through co-creative dialogue. As a collaboration between three property developers and a state-owned housing association, this project presents an opportunity for integrated, holistic neighborhood development within the district. It addresses the urgent need for new living spaces while also safeguarding and enhancing existing ones. Our role involved assessing the current urban situation, designing and coordinating communication among multiple stakeholders, and translating resulting ideas into initial urban development models.

Schaeffler Innovation Hub Teaser

Traditionally, Schaeffler has been a component manufacturer. Today, they are evolving into a system supplier and service developer, actively shaping the future of mobility. Our proposal for them involves the creation of a versatile Hub—a space that adapts to accommodate the wide range of use cases associated with the development of future urban mobility solutions. Located within an urban setting, this Hub will enable a new level of interaction with customers, users, partners and more, while also integrating seamlessly into an urban test field, ensuring a continuous flow of new ideas.

Brunner Innovation Factory

The extension of a production plant of the furniture manufacturer Brunner in Rheinau/Baden integrates production, test and research workshops, offices, as well as a bistro and showrooms in a compact structural form. Final assembly of the furniture is carried out in the two-storey building. The workshop and consignment areas are located in the hall at the rear.

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Our Services
  • Visioning and Storytelling
  • Architectural Programming
  • Building Concepts
  • Spatial Analytics and Simulations
  • Strategic Master Planning
  • Design Guidelines
  • Workplace Strategy
  • Sustainability Strategy

HENN Programming® Services

  • Visioning and Storytelling
  • Architectural Programming
  • Building Concepts
  • Spatial Analytics and Simulations
  • Strategic Master Planning
  • Design Guidelines
  • Workplace Strategy
  • Sustainability Strategy

HENN Programming® Services

  • Visioning and Storytelling
  • Architectural Programming
  • Building Concepts
  • Spatial Analytics and Simulations
  • Strategic Master Planning
  • Design Guidelines
  • Workplace Strategy
  • Sustainability Strategy

Contact

Photo of Andreas Fuchs

Andreas Fuchs

Partner
Head of Programming
andreas.fuchs@henn.com+49 (0)171 8652342
Photo of Markus Jacobi

Markus Jacobi

Senior Associate
Head of Workplace Strategy
markus.jacobi@henn.com
+49 (0)172 8611624
HENN.COM
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